Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov: Our Defence Standards Must Be Aligned with Those of NATO

Bulgaria should develop its defence industry and participate in international supply chains, rather than simply acting as a consumer of finished products. This was stated by Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov at a conference on technology transfer in the defence sector.

As a negative example, the minister highlighted the missed technological benefits worth $120 million from the F-16 deal. By contrast, he cited the opportunity to assemble Stryker vehicles in Bulgaria as a positive example.

According to Stoyanov, Bulgarian companies need to enhance their technological capabilities. He pointed to ammunition production as an example of an area in which change is needed.

To ensure that the money stays in Bulgaria, the country's defence industry must move away from traditional calibres and adopt NATO standards.

Dimitar Stoyanov, Minister of Defence: “We want to procure 155mm shells. I can tell you that we are still facing problems today, and I do not know how the sixth project under the SAFE programme will be implemented. I sincerely hope that our colleagues who manufacture this type of ammunition will gradually move away from 122mm and 152mm rounds and switch to 155mm, which is the new standard. We have a substantial amount of funding available – more than €200 million will be spent on this type of ammunition.”

Major General Zdravko Pehlivanov, Director of the Defence Staff: “To be honest, we do not know what our entire defence industry is doing, or what capabilities and production capacity it has. That is why we have now sent out a team to visit factories and assess, for example, exactly what capacity we have in ammunition production and what opportunities there are for cooperation.”