site.btaState Buys Back Aircraft Repair Plant

State Buys Back Aircraft Repair Plant

Graf Ignatievo, Southern Bulgaria, August 2 (BTA) - The Avionams aircraft repair plant became a fully state-owned enterprise again several years after it was privatized, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told journalists at the Graf Ignatievo Air Base on Tuesday.

The plant, which consists of facilities in Graf Ignatievo, Kroumovo and Plovdiv, was partially (65 per cent) privatized in 2008 and fully so in 2012. To buy it back, the state paid 29 million leva.

"Now that the plant has been returned to the state, all Bulgarian airplanes will be repaired here," Borissov said, adding that Avionams also repairs NATO helicopters. The Prime Minister said: "We have been rebuked that we have grounded our aircraft fleet, but nothing can be further from the truth. We have more airworthy planes now than we had in 2002 and we are honouring all our border protection commitments."

According to him, the Museum of Military History in Kroumovo will be relocated to an Air Force site in Plovdiv so that it becomes more accessible to the public and more people can learn about Bulgarian aviation history. Borissov also said that urgent repairs of the barracks in Tsruncha, Southern Bulgaria, will begin on Wednesday and the government will fund the construction of new military residential quarters there.

Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev said that two more engines for MiG-29 jet fighters will arrive from Poland in November and a further 10 engines will be delivered by the year's end. As a result of that, Bulgaria will have six more MiG-29 planes, which will enable the country to protect its airspace on its own. The government has ordered spare parts and everything necessary for the Air Force, Nenchev said.

At the Graf Ignatievo Air Base, the Defence Minister decorated distinguished servicepersons.