Saab expects talks to supply jets to Bulgaria
to start within months
Wed Jun 14, 2017 | 8:55am EDT
Sweden's Saab expects to enter into talks
with Bulgaria in a few months to supply it with new Gripen fighter jets, a
company executive said on Wednesday.
The previous interim government in Sofia had
said talks should start with Sweden for the purchase of eight Gripen aircraft,
but current Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has cast doubts on whether Sofia
should rush into a deal, estimated at 1.5 billion levs ($860 million).
The defense ministry, looking to replace
ageing MiG-29 aircraft, had picked the Swedish jet over an offer from Portugal
and the United States for second-hand U.S. F-16s and an Italian offer of
second-hand Eurofighter Typhoons.
"What we hope and expect is that we
would be called to negotiate ... probably after the summer break," Magnus
Lewis-Olsson, Saab's head of Europe, told reporters in Sofia.
"If Bulgaria wants their aircraft in
quite quickly then obviously we hope negotiations (are going) to start soon
because we've got to build the aircraft as well," he said.
Bulgarian officials say the country, a member
of the European Union and NATO, should move ahead simultaneously with buying
new ships and armored vehicles for its army, and that would require significant
financial resources.
Lewis-Olsson said Saab was ready to discuss
different financing options, including payments over a long period, and would
be prepared to provide about 4 fighter jets in 18 months upon signing.
"This is something that is going to last
for 40 years, it is a cost for a country for a long time, so we are prepared to
discuss how we finance it," he said.
Last month Saab, which has provided Gripen
warplanes to Hungary and the Czech Republic, said it hoped Croatia could enter
the market for fighter jets soon and that it would hold talks with Slovakia
over new aircraft.
(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by
Mark Potter)
Source: reuters.com
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