site.btaDefence Ministry Asks BGN 500,000 from Finance Ministry to Equip Helicopters for Firefighting

Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said here Monday that he has asked the Finance Ministry earlier in the day to provide some BGN 500,000 to purchase helibuckets and equip more helicopters for firefighting. He told the press that the plan is to purchase three helibuckets plus a spare one.

"We are confident that the pilots of the helicopters which will be furnished with such equipment, will be trained for such activity," Zapryanov said.

The matter was addressed at a meeting of the Security Council with the Council of Ministers, which convened last Friday to address the situation with widespread wildfires across the country.

Zapryanov said Monday that there is an idea to equip two Mi-17 but they need thorough overhaul and it is not clear how fast that can happen and how much it would cost.

He said that whether Bulgaria needs to establish a specialized air squad for fire fighting is something to be discussed in "a big political conversation" and is also a matter of available funding and planning.

For eleven days now, over 1,400 service persons have been involved in firefighting efforts in the regions of Plovdiv, Pazardjik, Haskovo, Stara Zagora, Yambol and Varna.