site.btaDefence Industry Association Seeks Stronger Role in National Security Strategy

The Bulgarian Armed Forces must have a strategy, and it must be developed with the participation of the Bulgarian Defence Industry Association, said the association’s Co-Chair Petar Georgiev on Wednesday, during the signing of a memorandum aimed at improving coordination between the Bulgarian defence industry and the executive authorities.

“We hope this memorandum marks a turning point in our relations. It’s not that there hasn’t been a memorandum before, there was one in 2012,” Georgiev said. “What matters is that we haven’t done anything during those years and we’ve lost a great deal,” he added.

“Thirty to forty countries outside Bulgaria value our work, while at home, no one does. The fact that we’ve survived for 30 years proves we have the capacity. The Bulgarian budget is filled by Bulgarian companies, not foreign ones. Unless we change that, we’ve achieved nothing,” Georgiev said.

The association’s other Co-Chair, Petar Cholakov, added: “I hope the Bulgarian defence industry stops being the ‘unwanted child’ of the industrial sector and becomes a sought-after partner instead.”

Cholakov noted that the defence industry has enormous potential, both in development and manufacturing. “In recent years, it has been developing in parallel to [the potential of] the Ministry of Defence. I hope this memorandum becomes a convergence point, where the two paths align and move forward together,” he said.