site.btaPresident Radev Urges Cabinet to Ensure New Fighter Jets' Capabilities

Sofia, June 29 (BTA) - President Rumen Radev urged the Government to make sure that the new fighter jets that Bulgaria is to purchase from the US have capabilities, his Press Secretariat reported Saturday. 

"The American partners are still here and the Government should not just note the political move that we have purchased the fighters from our strategic partner - the US, but also make sure that the aircraft has capabilities," Radev told a journalist's question about the negotiations between the Bulgarian Government and the US about the purchase of new fighter jets for the Bulgarian Air Force. 

The President, who is a former Air Force chief, attended an open air show at the Graf Ignatievo Air Base on the occasion of three anniversaries of the Air Force acquiring specific aviation equipment: a Bell 206 helicopter (20 years), a MiG-29 jet (30 years) and a Mi-24 helicopter (40 years). 

Rumen Radev once again stressed that if the new fighters do not have proper armament and equipment, they can only be used "for a wonderful airshow". According to him, in order for the new aircraft to be multi-role, utilized reliably and in operational readiness, it would mean that at least 6-7 fighters out of the eight will have to be airworthy. 

From this point on, the Government must make sure that the price gap is filled somehow, in order to guarantee this package. If something is not supplied, Cabinet should state the costs, when they plan to supply it, what the next governments will have to pay, because a lot will have to be paid, Radev said. 

"The full package is 3.45 billion leva, VAT included. We are currently talking about 
2.2 billion leva, excluding VAT. You do the math, but we have serious cuts," the President said. 

Bulgarian National Radio quoted Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Krassimir Karakchanov as telling journalists that, in reality, the F-16 fighter jets' price is 2.2 billion leva. Karakachanov said he does not know why the President claims that the sum is 3.2 billion leva, given that ten days ago the Defence Ministry has sent him the proposed agreement, as Radev had requested.  

According to the Defence Minister, the agreement will be subject to certain corrections, but the President has been informed about every stage of the process upon request. If an agreement is signed by the end of July, the process will be over, Karakachanov said. "We will draft our report to the Council of Ministers, which will have to make a decision and submit it to the National Assembly. If Parliament approves this proposal, it can be concluded by the end of July," he said.

"I have no idea where this one billion leva came from, but the negotiations process itself, regardless of the type of equipment in question, is no easy task. If it were easy, then President Radev himself would have solved the problem when he was at the helm of the Air Force," Karakachanov said, adding that this problem has not been solved for a dozen years now and "we are one step away from signing a contract." 

Commenting the ambiguity surrounding the repairs of the Su-25 jets, Karakchanov said that he is obliged to observe Bulgarian law.

National Assembly Chair Tsveta Karayancheva said last week that the Su-25 jets will be repaired in Bulgaria and the country invites Russia to send experts to join the repairs. Karayancheva was speaking to journalists in Moscow after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Karakachanov noted  on Friday that the money for the repair and restoration of Bulgaria's Su-25s has already been remitted to a correspondent bank in Germany, which is supposed to service the contract with Belarus, which will repair the aircraft. "The money for the aircraft's repair has been wired, so we must have a contract with Belarus," the Defence Minister said.

Asked about the repairs of the Su-25 aircraft currently in service in the Bulgarian Air Force, President Radev voiced hope that the differences within the Government will be overcome. "We need these airplanes. What I want to see at the end is a repaired Su-25, reliable for many years to come," he said, explaining that this is what the Bulgarian Air Force currently has until the the new multi-role fighters arrive and are equipped.