site.btaContract Initialled for Repair of Bulgarian MiGs in Poland - MP

Contract Initialled for Repair of Bulgarian MiGs in Poland - MP

Sofia, October 2 (BTA) - A contract has been initialled on
working level for repair of Bulgarian MiG-29 fighters in Poland
on Thursday by Deputy Defence Minister Dimiter Kyumyurdjiev, MP
Grozdan Karadjov (Reformist Bloc) told the press here Friday.
According to him, at its next meeting this coming Wednesday, the
 government will authorize the Defence Minister to undersign the
 contract.

If a deal has been initialled, it means there is no doubt that
the Polish armament factory can do the job, Karadjov commented.

According to the deputy floor leader of the Socialists' group in
 Parliament, Atanas Merdjanov, however, initialling a tentative
contract for the repair of the MiGs in Poland has only political
 meaning and value. "Such a contract has no legal or commercial
value because if the Polish commercial partnership has some kind
 of contractual relations with the Russian producer of MiG-29,
they give [the Polish side] only a partial licence - for repair
of Polish MiG-29. In other words, the Polish side has no
capacity and licence to repair the MiG-29 fighters of other
countries," the Socialist MP said. He warned that if the
government mandates the Defence Minister to sign a final
contract for the MiGs' repair, the Bulgarian side is in for a
serious legal saga.

Last week the Russian side reportedly warned Bulgaria that
Poland is not licensed for the execution of repairs of the
engines of MiG-29 and that if it goes ahead with the Polish
deal, RSK MiG will discontinue the further performance of the
contractual relations for the maintenance and operation of the
aircraft.