Bulgaria to OK delivery of 100 armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine in September
Nearly 100 Bulgarian armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine are expected to be delivered to Ukraine next month, a Bulgarian MP behind the move told LIGA.net.
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Ivailo Mirchev, who co-authored the decree on military aid to Ukraine, said the Bulgarian parliament should finally ratify the transfer of 100 armoured personnel carriers to the Ukrainian armed forces in early September.
Then, the equipment will be sent to Ukraine.
Last month, the Bulgarian MPs approved the transfer of 100 armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine.
Those are mostly from the Bulgarian interior ministry, and were produced in the 1960s and 1970s.
Mr Mirchev added the equipment has never been used, and some of the APCs are technically defective.
“They have been gathering dust in warehouses for more than 40 years and only incur the costs of their protection and maintenance,” the MP said.
By providing Ukraine with the APCs, Bulgaria hopes to receive compensation from the United States, which would improve the defence capabilities of the Bulgarian army.
Despite strong pro-Russian influence in the region, Bulgaria in the early months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine provided critical military support.
The-then government, led by the leader of the pro-European We Continue the Change party, Kiril Petkov, managed to bypass the veto of its more Russia-leaning coalition partner and send hundreds of millions of euros of Soviet-old military equipment and ammunition.