Minister Eager to Have US Revive Bulgaria's Defense Industry

Defense Minister Anyu Angelov has expressed strong support for his colleague, Economy Minister Traikov, who invited US companies to consider investments in Bulgarian military plants.

Earlier on Sunday, it was announced that Traikov, who is in the US, had invited Boeing to study the opportunities for the privatization of the ailing Bulgarian military industrial giant VMZ Sopot. He also invited Motorola to establish a partnership with the Bulgarian government in the field of communications.

Defense Minister Angelov said subsequently that he backed strongly any idea to "breathe live into the Bulgarian defense industry."

"Unfortunately, many mistakes have been made in the recent years with respect to the easy privatization of the military-industrial complex. I was just in Poland where I saw a very successful defense industry consolidated into one single holding. Thus, it benefits not only the Polish military but also those of other EU member states. This can probably no longer happen in Bulgaria," stated the general.

"I am shying away from specific criticism. I am just saying that already privatized factories cannot be united into such a military-industrial complex as is Bumar in Poland – which has a wide range of goods and efficient market presence. This is why I support Minister Traikov's efforts to find a better place for individual segments of the Bulgarian defense industry in projects of both the United States of America and the European Defense Agency, of which we are members," Angelov concluded while speaking on Bulgaria's draft National Security Strategy on Sunday.