site.btaExperts Discuss Future of Defence Industry at Sofia Forum

Experts discussed the future of the defence industry on Tuesday at a conference titled “New Realities in Foreign Policy, Defence, and the Defence Industry.”  The third panel of the forum focused on the present and future of the defence sector in Bulgaria and Europe.

Deputy Minister of Innovation and Growth Georgi Angelov said that the global defence industry is valued at around USD 2.5 trillion and is expected to grow by approximately 10% annually, reaching USD 4.8 trillion in six to seven years.

Deputy Head of the European Defence Fund Unit of the European Commission Krastyo Preslavski emphasized that until just a few years ago, the word 'defence' was almost taboo in the EU. “Most countries said that was NATO’s job. Today, the situation is completely different,” he said. In Preslavski’s words, Europe has "woken up" and is taking decisive action. Bulgaria is participating in 28 European defence projects and has joined one of the EU’s first five joint procurement initiatives - a project for an air defence missile system, he added.

MP Stanislav Anastassov from the parliamentary group Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning  said that Bulgarian foreign policy should focus more on supporting the trade interests of national companies by facilitating contacts with potential partners. He noted that this should be a requirement for Bulgarian ambassadors—to be skilled diplomats and capable of promoting trade. “Our industry is currently riding a wave, largely due to Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. Much of it was on the verge of collapse before February 2022. Now there’s momentum, but it won’t last forever. We need to use this momentum to reformat the sector into something sustainable,” Anastassov said.

The Rector of the University of National and World Economy, Dimitar Dimitrov, said that Bulgaria must strengthen the tools that promote cooperation and integration between its defence industry and the European and NATO industries

Prof. Stoyan Denchev, Secretary General and Chair of the Board of Trustees at the University of Library Studies and Information Technologies, presented the Security and Defence programme which will conclude in late May or early June. The programme has yielded significant scientific and practical results and a new programme is currently being approved, he added.

Defence Institute Director Colonel Borislav Genov said, “We must work together with industry. In the second phase of the programme, our ambitious goal is to achieve more practical and applicable results.”