site.btaCabinet Considers Mixed Funding for Higher Military Education

Higher military education will be considered for funding not only by the Ministry of Defence, as it is now, but also partly by the Ministry of Education and Science, said on Tuesday Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov at a meeting with the leadership of the National Military University "Vasil Levski" in Shumen, quoted in a press release of the Council of Ministers.

"There is a shortfall of about BGN 8 million in our university alone. We are unequal to other universities. Our students have been forgotten by the Ministry of Education. This makes it difficult to invest, for example, in student dorms and meals," said the head of the National Military University, Brigadier General Ivan Malamov.

"The best we can do is to have funding for your students come from the Education Ministry, and they should have rights like all other students. The maintenance of technological equipment and facilities should remain with the Ministry of Defence. The allocation should be done very carefully," Denkov replied.

The military faculty in Shumen has great potential to expand training in engineering specialties, including for the civilian industry in Northeastern Bulgaria, it became clear at the meeting. In this part of the country the business has a great need for highly qualified specialists in this field. "Your university is part of the solution to the personnel problem in the region," the Prime Minister stressed.  

The state should invest in military science and support the development of defence technologies. They can have many civilian applications and it is this combination that we must support in every way, Denkov noted.

"We are modernising equipment, raising salaries and social spending. Next year, defence spending will be 2% of GDP, and in 2025 even more because of payments for new aircraft," he explained.