Bulgaria secretly provided Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of weapons - media

Billions of dollars worth of Bulgarian weapons have entered Ukraine through other countries over the past two years, and Ukraine and Bulgaria did not even have to agree to any direct deals before the war. In 2022 alone, Bulgaria indirectly exported at least $1 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine.

Source. This is according to an investigation conducted by EURACTIV Bulgaria.

With the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Bulgaria, Cornelia Ninova, said that she would not allow the export of Bulgarian weapons to Ukraine – she said this four days after the invasion began.

From the very beginning of the Russian invasion, sending arms to Ukraine has been a sticking point between Russophile and pro-Western parties in Bulgaria.

After Ninova's cabinet resigned in July 2022, the Bulgarian parliament overwhelmingly decided to provide military assistance to Ukraine from the Bulgarian army. President Rumen Radev, who was strongly opposed to this decision, was forced to accept it, but later announced that he would not approve any more arms deliveries.

Currently, Bulgarian companies do not send weapons and ammunition directly to Ukraine.

"For the period from February 24, 2022, to January 19, 2023, the Export Control Commission did not receive any applications for foreign trade agreements with Ukrainian companies and state institutions, and, accordingly, no export permits were issued during this period," the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy said.

However, during this time, the practice of using foreign programs has developed, said Velizar Shalamanov, former acting defense minister.

"There are well-funded programs in the UK, the US, and Poland. Under this program, the weapons needed for Ukraine are purchased, so the money is not Ukrainian, but British, American, Polish or European," explained Shalamanov.

He added that the intermediary parties handle the logistics themselves, and this method has proven to be beneficial for all parties to the deal.

Bulgaria is one of the largest producers of Soviet-style weapons and ammunition used by the Ukrainian army. Shalamanov advocated that Bulgaria transfer Soviet-era military equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and replace it with modern allied equipment, thus accelerating its own rearmament. This applies to T-72 tanks, Su-25 and MiG-29 aircraft. Shalamanov cited the Czech Republic and Poland as examples of countries that have already done so.

Background. Bulgaria has fined Russia's Lukoil almost $37 million for abuse of its monopoly position.