site.btaHostile Influence in Bulgaria Must Be Cause for Concern - Defence Minister

"In principle, we should be concerned over hostile industry in this country because there are powers investing significant resources for this purpose," Bulgarian Defence Minister Todor Tagarev told a news briefing here on Tuesday.

Asked whether his Ministry is conducting a check about security breaches in connection with the current spy scandal, Tagarev said that "there are permanently functioning mechanisms". "A special check in connection with the case that was made public yesterday is not being conducted and cannot possibly be conducted because this is the responsibility mainly of the State Agency for National Security, and the Military Police performs certain functions, too," Tagarev pointed out. "All this is provided for in the laws and is being done in conformity with the laws," he added.

Speaking at a high-level conference and industry day on "Growing Demand for Defence Industrial Support and Innovation Opportunities", which marked the 20th anniversary of Bulgaria's accession to NATO, Tagarev said that "the requirements to the defence industry are growing substantially thanks to Putin and its aggressive actions."

He argued for the need of rapid development and implementation of new products, of large-scale production, because several thousand large-calibre projectiles are used daily on the front in Ukraine. "These requirements also open up new innovation opportunities in the Bulgarian defence industry, to develop competitive capabilities, integrate into the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base and thus ensure the security of the supply chain to Europe and NATO," the Minister commented. In his words, the Bulgarian industry "already has wonderful opportunities."

Asked whether he was pleased with the pace at which the Bulgarian Armed Forces are modernizing, Tagarev noted that after quite a few years during which the needs of defence were neglected, and especially after the 2008 crisis, the defence budget nevertheless started to grow as from 2019, and this growth has been particularly tangible in recent years. "For the first time in decades, this year's defence budget exceeds 2% of GDP," he emphasized. "More than a third of this budget is allocated for investments, which is even above the minimum requirements," he added. "The investment programme we laid before Parliament last year holds some BGN 18 billion for investment. Of these, some BGN 9 billion are already shared out among the projects for the procurement of [F-16] fighter jets and accompanying infrastructure, [patrol] ships, Stryker [combat vehicles] and [3D] radars," the Defence Minister said. "The remaining BGN 9 billion - and a larger amount will be available as from 2027, will address the rest of the modernization issues," he pointed out. Tagarev added that if the planned financial resources prove to be insufficient, other options will be explored as well.