site.btaDefence Ministry Terminates Procedure for Acquisition of Armoured Combat Vehicles for Land Forces

March 16 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Defence Ministry said in a
 press release on Tuesday that it is terminating the procedure
for acquisition of armoured combat vehicles for the Land Forces.
 Letters to this effect have been sent to the two shortlisted
bidders, the General Dynamics multinational company and
Finland's Patria.

Both price offers significantly exceed the framework approved by
 Parliament, the Ministry said.

In June 2018, the National Assembly approved the planned
purchase of 150 armoured vehicles, including 90 combat ones and
60 special-purpose and support ones, at a maximum price of 1.24
billion leva before VAT, payable over 10 years.

The price offers of General Dynamics and Patria were opened at
the Defence Ministry in Sofia on October 2, 2021. No details
about the offers were made public. On October 8, Deputy Defence
Minister Anatoly Velichkov confirmed to reporters that both
price offers did not comply with the financial framework
approved by Parliament, but he did not specify the margin of the
 discrepancy.

The termination of the procedure came after Defence Krassimir
Karakachanov assigned a special politico-military working group
to approach representatives of the two companies about options
to reduce the prices. It emerged from the talks that this is
impossible without a material change of the project's terms of
reference for the performance of the equipment, which would
enable the bidders to offer alternative technical solutions
without changing the vehicles' required combat capabilities. At
the same time, a possible change in the requirements would
discriminate against the bidders that have already dropped out
of the procedure, the press release specified.

In a related development, Karakachanov assigned the management
of the state-owned Terem Holding to explore opportunities for
organizing joint manufacture of combat vehicles on Bulgarian
territory with maximum involvement of the Bulgarian defence
industry.

"I don't think it would be right to rush things, so that the
next Bulgarian government, the next minister of defence will
move forward or ask Parliament for more money to carry on the
project,'' Karakachanov commented to reporters on March 5. He
denied that the modernization project itself for the procurement
 of armoured combat vehicles for the Land Forces had been
abandoned. RI/DT

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