Reuters Staff
SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 / 12:32 AM
SOFIA (Reuters) - Plans by Bulgaria to buy eight fighter
jets are on hold after lawmakers on Wednesday questioned if all bidders for the
contract had been treated equally.
The NATO and EU member state, which is looking to replace
its ageing Soviet-designed MiG-29s, said in June it would start talks to buy
new Gripen warplanes from Swedish manufacturer Saab in a deal estimated at 1.5
billion levs (677.55 million pounds)
But a parliamentary committee set up to investigate the
bid process, part of which was handled by a previous interim government,
requested a defence ministry review after uncovering what it called “disturbing
facts”.
“The most important thing is to treat all participants
equally,” said committee chairman Emil Hristov.
Hours earlier, Slovakia’s defence minister said it was
deferring a planned fighter jet purchase -- also to replace MiG-29s - pending a
broader upgrade of its armed forces.
On Monday, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov voiced
doubt that Gripen was the best choice for the new fighter jet for the Black Sea
state’s Air Force. He had initially told his Swedish counterpart that
negotiations on a Gripen acquisition would proceed within weeks.
Bulgaria also received offers from Portugal for
secondhand U.S. F-16s and from Italy for secondhand Eurofighter Typhoons.
The question of which warplanes Bulgaria should buy has
been vexing successive governments for more than a decade.
The country has said it wants to upgrade between 2018 and
2022 to bring its fighter jet fleet closer into compliance with NATO standards.
Bulgaria joined the Atlantic alliance in 2004 and the
European Union three years later.
Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; editing by John
Stonestreet
Related post:
No comments:
Post a Comment