Does Bulgaria supply weapons to Ukraine? Officially, not because of its historical proximity to Russia. However, its factories are operating at full capacity and recruiting in excess. Last year, the sector’s exports approached 4 billion euros, according to estimates, triple the previous record of 2017. Poland and Romania act as intermediaries, on the way to Ukraine.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a valley in the center of the country, nestled at the foot of the Balkan ridge, has never lived up to its nickname: “Guns and Roses.” The vast fields of roses rub shoulders with the manufacture of weapons. Shot after the collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1989, the industry experienced a renaissance in the 2010s, thanks to the conflicts in the Middle East. However, nothing compares to the current situation.
The “Bulgarian Kalashnikov”
In Kazanlak, workers crowd in front of the private company Arsenal, which has some 7,000 employees.
Last year Kazanlak registered an unemployment rate of 2.37%”, twice lower than the country’s average. The order books of the Arsenal, where the “Bulgarian Kalashnikov” is manufactured, known for its good value for money, pull the activity of the whole city”, emphasizes Yordan Ignatov, vice-president of the local chamber of commerce. The merchants see a flow of clients, such as real estate agencies: “everything that is built is bought,” says Teodor Tenev.
Thierry Breton visits a shell factory
Bulgaria, a specialist in ammunition for Soviet weapons, now wants to modernize its communist-era infrastructure to bring it up to NATO standards, of which it has been a member since 2004. This modernization is financially supported by European funds. The EU released two billion euros on Monday to speed up production for Ukraine.
Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Industry, was in Bulgaria last week to visit the VMZ company in Sopot, in the same region. During a clip withheld from the media, he visited in particular the production lines for 155mm shells, which the Ukrainian army is in dire need of for its weapons.
Because the subject is very sensitive. When the conflict broke out, pro-European Prime Minister Kiril Petkov maneuvered behind the scenes to support Kiev, “at a decisive moment for Ukraine,” explains former Defense Minister Todor Tagarev. Kiril Petkov even told the German daily Die Weltthat “a third of the ammunition that Ukraine needed in the first phase of the war came from Bulgaria”, through third countries.
Refusal to show help publicly
After the fall of their cabinet in June 2022, while the country remains mired in a political crisis, the interim governments did not hinder existing commercial contracts, despite strong reluctance from socialists and ultranationalists. With the exception of a single shipment authorized by Parliament, Sofia never directly delivered weapons to kyiv and did not sign the joint European declaration on ammunition.
Retired Colonel Vladimir Milenski regrets that Bulgaria refuses to show its support publicly. “It would have sent a strong political signal, showing that we are not a political pawn of Moscow,” he says.
Source: BFM TV
