site.btaBulgaria Cannot Provide Weapons if Army Stocks Fall Below Required Levels, Defence Minister Says

Bulgarian Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said Friday on Bulgarian National Television that ammunition or weaponry can not be provided if doing so would violate the law and reduce stocks below the required minimum levels.

Commenting on military assistance to Ukraine, he noted that the Bulgarian Army's weapons stockpiles are maintained in line with regulatory requirements, meaning that the armed forces must sustain a specific level of readiness with a defined quantity of ammunition and equipment.

He added that the Defence Ministry has published a list of surplus items no longer needed by the armed forces, but there has been no interest in acquiring them. 

Asked whether halting military assistance to Ukraine places Bulgaria in an unpopular international position, Stoyanov replied: "Not at all." He noted that Germany had previously declined to provide Taurus missiles to Ukraine. According to the Minister, there had also been speculation that a parliamentary decision regarding aid to Ukraine was being violated. 

Stoyanov said that during the tenure of his predecessor, Todor Tagarev, missiles had been supplied to Ukraine which, in his view, should not have been provided. 

The Defence Minister said that all weaponry supplied to Ukraine had been donated and that Ukraine had not paid Bulgaria for it. Part of the costs had been reimbursed through the European Peace Facility or by another country involved in a trilateral arrangement with Bulgaria, he added. Stoyanov stressed that the Defence Ministry had never supplied weapons to Ukraine through intermediaries. 

He also described as a manipulation claims that sales by private defence companies were being halted. 

Commenting on the review of public procurement contracts awarded by the Defence Ministry, Stoyanov said the objective was to safeguard advance payments made to companies carrying out construction projects at two military facilities, in Graf Ignatievo and Karlovo. According to him, the issue concerns fraudulent bank guarantees. 

Asked whether any projects were at risk, the Minister said they were not and that work was continuing. He added, however, that there should be a register of non-compliant companies.