- Auditor reports: Monstrous corruption involving EU funds
UPDATE: OVER 0.5 BLN BGN OF EU FUNDS EMBEZZLED THROUGH SOCIAL MINISTRY
- 30 March 2023 - CORRUPTION SCANDAL WITH SUSPICIONS OF ESPIONAGE
BULGARIAN GOLDEN PASSPORT. SCANDAL IN URUGUAY WITH A COLONEL FROM THE RUSSIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY
- 2 March 2023 - Bivol’s findings - ignored for months
Bivol exposed our secret weapons in Ukraine; Petkov and Ninova denied it
- 19 January 2023
Instead of offering military help in an official and transparent way, Bulgaria is secretly selling weapons meant for Ukraine through Poland and Romania, Bivol found out in a joint investigation with our Polish colleagues at Fundacja Reporterow (FR). Our findings are corrobotrated by official documents from the Bulgarian foreign ministry and the Romanian ministry of the economy. In May 2022 Bulgaria tried to secretly export retired ammunition to Romania: 122 mm rockets for the BM-21 Grad self-propelled multiple rocket launcher, 122 mm rounds for the D-30 Gvozdika howitzer, 152 mm rounds for the D-20 Akatsiya howitzer and 130 mm artillery rounds. Almost all of them were manufactured in the Soviet republic of Belarus and their total value was about $200 million. The deal consisted of several payments of approximately $60 – $70 million, according to Bivol’s sources in the weapons industry. This is corroborated by a number of official documents we managed to obtain. The rockets manufactured in the 1980s were purchased by the Bulgarian company Alguns EOOD from the Republic of Belarus. In early May Alguns exported the rounds to the National Defence Company CN RomArm S.A., governed by Romania’s ministry of the economy. The agreement was that the ammunition would then be immediately re-exported to Ukraine. Romanians were, however, dissatisfied with the condition of the rockets, many of which were bruised, deformed or even rusty. Protective of their own good reputation, they sent them back. Assisted by the ministry of economy and industry, Alguns then tried to fix them by means of the so-called “re-attestation” at the government-owned weapons manufacturer Vazovski Mashinostroitelni Zavodi (VMZ) in Sopot. Bulgaria. The plant, however, refused the ministry’s request to give priority to the project, saying they were busy working on a record high number of orders from foreign clients. The stakes were clearly high in executing the double manoeuvre on time – so high that minister Kornelia Ninova sacked the entire board of directors immediately and without citing any clear grounds (see here). The case is about to turn into yet another diplomatic scandal as Bucharest was expected to re-export the rockets to Kiyv, while Minsk was unhappy with the suspicions that a license on their behalf for the re-export of the weapons had been forged.
The ‘quality’of sold missiles (Image: Bivol)
Bivol asked for the official positions of economy minister Kornelia Ninova and foreign minister Teodora Genchovska on the case. We never received a reply from Ninova, while Genchovska said the foreign ministry had no information on the matter. Under the freedom of information act her team informed Bivol that in the two months following March 2022 a many as 50 flights to the military airport of Rzeszow in Poland had been carried out. The foreign ministry confirmed that the flights carried weapons and ammunition. Rzeszow airport is only 70 km away from the Ukraininan border.
For the sake of comparison, over the same period last year there were no flights to that airport, which is now the main hub for the supply of weapons to Ukraine. The deal between Alguns and RomArm is being investigated by the State Agency for National Security (SANS) and according to Bivol’s sources witness interrogations are still ongoing.
„We are unequivocal – Bulgaria does not export any weapons to Ukraine.” This repeated claim was made yet again by deputy prime minister Kornelia Ninova on bTV’s morning programme on 12 July 2022.
“We supply weapons to other countries – the end-user certificates they issue feature Czechia, Hungary, Poland, USA.”
In her view the key document we should focus on is the end-user certificate: “When they own the goods, it is their decision (i.e. whether to resell or give them to a third country as aid). However Bivol managed to obtain enough solid evidence that large shipments of Bulgarian weapons have been sent to Ukraine, also through official institutions in Sofia, Bucharest and Warsaw.
This evasive policy by Ninova and the government on the export of weapons to Ukraine creates the perfect environment for corrupt and shady trade channels and secret agreements with private companies given exclusive rights to do business with the state-owned plants of the military industrial complex.
Managers of state-owned companies are inexorably dismissed if they refuse to cooperate on those private agreements that go against the interests of the state. Information we received from inside sources about multimillion bribes to state officials need to be investigated by SANS and CACIAF. Bivol is ready to give that information to the relevant institutions, provided we are allowed to keep our sources secret.
The ‘quality’of sold missiles (Image: Bivol)
We would like to point out again that Kiril Petkov’s coalition government is the only one within NATO and the EU, beside that of Hungary’s pro-Russian dictator Victor Orban, which does not officially provide weapons to Ukraine. On 4 May 2022 both ruling parties and opposition voted in the Bulgarian parliament to provide only “technical military support” to Kiyv. This prepared the ground for an unlimited scale of corruption in the military industrial complex.
The first person to speak publicly about the export of Bulgarian weapons to Ukraine via Poland and Czechia was former Kintex CEO Alexander Mihaylov, who commented on it as early as 27 April. Warsaw and Prague now had their own production, he said, as their armies had already switched to NATO standards, so the amounts exported to those countries were not needed and there was no way they could serve those countries’ needs.
He commented that the exported products matched those being used in combat in Ukraine. Meanwhile The New York Times reported on the export of Bulgarian weapons to Ukraine via an American company in Poland.
The weapons from Bulgaria to Ukraine are being exported not only through Poland and Czechia but also through Romania, Bivol’s investigation found through sources in Sofia and Bucharest.
Political shootout over the weapons for Ukraine
A few weeks ago prime minister Kiril Petkov and president Rumen Radev entered into a heated media exchange on the secret sale of weapons to Ukraine. Kiril Petkov indirectly confirmed to the British newspaper The Guardian the information from the last few months about the trade in Bulgarian weapons and their subsequent re-export to Ukraine.
“I fear that Bulgaria will become a much more timid, soft state on the rhetoric against the war and that some of our exports to Poland will be sharply decreased”
The prime minister then pointed to the president, who in his words was “very strongly against” the supply of weapons to Ukraine via third countries.
“We were very much for it”, Petkov said.
„The prime minister’s interview for the Guardian revealed a great deal. He practically admitted that Bulgaria exports weapons to Ukraine,” Rumen Radev struck back.
“In his attempts to target me he has dealt a blow to Kornelia Ninova, who is head of the committee issuing the licenses for those weapons.“
When the Guardian interview was quoted on Bulgarian media, the government press office sent out a clarification to refute the conclusions that could be drawn from the prime minister’s words.
Kiril Petkov and his Romanian counterpart Nicolae Ciucă (Image: Stirile pe Surse)
In view of the media publications regarding military aid from Bulgaria to Ukraine, we would like to clarify that our country is adhering strictly to Parliament’s decision adopted on 4 May 2022 and is only providing the type of aid specified in the above-mentioned document: https://www.parliament.bg/bg/desision/ID/164134.”
Kiril Petkov himself declared in Brussels that “it is not true”. The government was complying with the parliament’s decision to not sent weapons to Ukraine and to only repair military equipment instead.
“Yes, we do export all kinds of ammunition and weapons to our EU partners,” the prime minister added.
„A very clear distinction must be made – there is no hidden export to Ukraine“.
„The step we make is to export to Poland”, Petkov explained, saying that his words in the interview had been distorted by Bulgarian media.
The information was additionally confirmed by innovations minister Daniel Lorer, commenting on Petkov’s words for Nova TV:
„Most probably some of those weapons go to countries who are giving their own weapons to Ukraine, under some sort of replacement scheme.”
According to Bulgarian civil society and to our NATO partners the current hypocritical position is disgraceful. It is a disgrace that the highest levels of government are tolerating a hidden export of weapons, regardless of what their domestic political considerations may be. The world is at a watershed in terms of civilisation values and each country’s stance in this battle is important. Compromising on whether to openly support the country suffering from this brutal inhumane aggression is unacceptable both in public life and on the individual level.
The ‘quality’of sold missiles (Image: Bivol)
The hypocrisy that we purportedly want to help Ukraine but in order to remain in power we agree to stay passive, is a sign of more than political mimicry. It is a sign of something far worse and vicious, something that can be seen as being on the same level as serving one’s own personal interests while taking advantage of the current situation.
The mantra about “Bulgaria’s national interest” is not applicable in this case,
because it is beyond any doubt that our national interest is inextricable from the tight-knit community of developed democratic countries – the engine pulling our civilisation towards progress. Belonging to that community brings not only privilege and benefits but also the responsibility to stand up and defend it by one’s own means and at one’s own expenses when needed.
Grad rockets a sore point between Sofia, Bucharest and Kiyv
On his way home from his visit to Kiyv on 28 April 2022, prime minister Kiril Petkov made a stop in Bucharest. According to one of Bivol’s sources, there was more going on than the protocol photo ops and statements for the media – arrangements were being made for the export of Bulgarian and Soviet-made weapons to Ukraine via Romania.
Initially the plan involved about 40 000 Grad missiles, used in a self-propelled multiple rocket launcher system, an upgrade on the famous Katyusha used in WW2. However, missiles of this kind are not produced in Bulgaria. The ammunition in question was made in the former Soviet republic of Belarus.
According to at least two independent sources – one current MEP and one former defence minister –
Sofia is one of the biggest suppliers of rockets, including Grads, to Ukraine,
via third countries like Poland and Romania.
Sofia and Bucharest discussed the export of about 50 000 artillery rockets and over 5 million machine gun cartridges. The estimated total value of the deal is around $200 million, of which according to our sources at least 15 million were meant as unofficial commission for public officials, with 5 million in advance payment.
According to so far unconfirmed information, communication on the deal goes directly between the prime minister’s chief of office Lena Borislavova and the chief of deputy prime minister Kornelia Ninova’s office Kaloyan Metodiev.
The economy minister is by default the chairman of the Interministerial Commission for Export Control and Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, the body responsible for the export license. It has issued an individual export/transfer license to a EU country, namely Romania.
The authorisation for issuing the license was given with obliging urgency and was signed in absentia, to avoid having to wait for the Commission’s next monthly meeting. The procedure for issuing the license was kick-started immediately after the prime minister’s return from his trip to Kiyv and Bucharest.
According to persons well acquainted with the deal, the Bulgarian institutions had to practically resort to fraud in order to carry out the transaction as urgently as possible. A document was provided which falsely stated that the weapons had been remanufactured at VMZ in Sopot. Kornelia Ninova could easily check if such a document was legitimately created, as the military equipment plant is under the control of the economy ministry. Instead, minister Ninova promptly signed her approval. Another scandalously fake document was also attached – a “license” (see copy below) by the Belarus government-owned plant Belvneshpromservice.
According to Bivol’s sources in the security services, the document is forged.
A simple check by Bivol showed that even the name Alguns was misspelled in Russian, which could not happen in an official document. Alguns was spelled “Алгинс ЕООО“, which is absurd – – according to the rules of transcription, it should be “Алганс“ or “Олганс“. On the other hand the analogue of the Bulgarian EOOD (sole-owner company) in Russian is OOO (“Общество с Ограниченной Ответственностью”). The abbreviation “ЕООО” is unknown in Russian as a signifier for a type of company ownership and it never existed in the countries from the former Soviet Union. That shows the document was written by Bulgarians and not by the Russian-speaking citizens of a former Soviet state.
The so-called document is a letter stating the “lack of impediments to the re-export” of the ammunition and it is addressed to Alguns CEO Alexander Dimitrov, known in certain circles as Sasho the Scrap.
Image: The attached document is not valid – licenses of this kind can only be issued by the Government Commission on Military Industry of the Republic of Belarus.
Even the name of the Bulgarian company is spelled incorrectly in Russian.
The most likely explanation is that finding out about the re-export plans, the government commission in Belarus sent a memo to all state-owned manufacturers such as Belvneshpromservice and its contractors, explaining that the re-export could not go ahead without following internationally required procedure.
The consent for re-export from the Belarusian side was not given by the competent state authority but by its subordinate manufacturer, which does not have the necessary authority. A check by the Bulgarian security services showed the illegitimate re-export license does not even specify a country for which that license is being given. An enquiry by the Bulgarian security services also showed that in the archives of the company issuing the license
there was no letter with the specified attributes.
This is a case of gross document fraud involving the use of a blank letterhead and the rubber stamp of a company in Belarus.
To issue a re-export permit based on such a document was a gross violation of international and Bulgarian law regulating the export and re-export of goods with this type of use. The responsibility for that violation lies wholly with the chairman of the interministerial commission – Kornelia Ninova.
At same time it is wrong to send poor quality ammunition to our NATO partner Romania and to Ukraine, which is in grave need of adequate military equipment. The haste and the slapdash attitude to documents can most likely be explained with the economic interests implicated in such contracts, which are huge.
Image: The memo sent out by the Commission on Military Industry of the Republic of Belarus about the weapons reexport (Source: Bivol)
The profit in deals of this kind involving old weapons bought in the past from former Soviet states is around 65 million euro for every 100 million euro.
The price of this kind of ammunition, for example, has gone up from $700 to over $2 000 per shot since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. That means any trader who had old military equipment in store can now make a huge profit if they can only find a way to export it.
Therefore deals of this kind usually don’t go without political protection, for which the necessary kickback needs to be paid. When the profit margin is 75%, we can only imagine what that kickback might be but it is certainly not lower than 7% or, in this particular case, about 15 million USD, according to weapons exports Bivol spoke to.
Everything so far would have probably gone under the radar – the real problems started after the shipment had been sent. The transaction was planned to go the following way: Alguns sells the ammunition to the Romanian national defence company CN Romarm S.A., the latter then resells it to its own subsidiary Nanotech Defence S.R.L., which signs a direct contract with the Ukrainian defence ministry, i.e. the ultimate recipient (see document below).
Image: Nanotech Defence S.R.L.
The documents include a detailed inventory of the goods. It is important to mention that Nanotech was acting as RomArm’s sales representative in Ukraine. Nanotech’s company information in one of Romania’s business registries shows it was registered as
“an intermediary in the trade in special purpose goods” (see below).
In this sense the contract is between Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine.
According to our sources, on the day the deal was agreed the Bulgarian company Alguns received an advance payment of $36 million, transferred from a bank account in the UK – the country providing the second highest amount of military aid to Ukraine after the USA. The remaining money was to be paid as soon as the weapons arrived at their destination.
But when they were received in Ukraine, their actual condition was revealed. The Ukrainian defence ministry sent them back to Romania because they were not fit to be used in combat (see header video).
It turns out that because of the urgency the ammunition had not been examined and was in a bad condition.
According to one of Bivol’s sources, the deal is no secret in defence industry circles. Our source says the Grad missiles were supposed to be sold by Alguns to Azerbaijan but apparently that sale did not go through or certain quantities remained unsold. It was therefore decided to redirect the ammunition gathering dust in the warehouse to Ukraine via Romania.
Image: Nanotech Defence Srl – an intermediary in the trade in special use goods (Source: Termene.ro)
The company and its owner then involved Kornelia Ninova directly in the affair, which is now threatening to turn into an international diplomatic scandal. Because when Ukraine sent the goods back, the entire shipment went again through Romania and all the way back to the Bulgarian company Alguns. The clearance for receiving goods of that kind into the country had to once again carry the signature of deputy prime minister Ninova.
In Bulgaria the plant that can refurbish the ammunition is VMZ in Sopot. Alguns sought their services but the state-owned weapons manufacturer was overwhelmed with orders related to the conflict in Ukraine. They offered to complete the project by the middle of 2023.
Meanwhile a diplomatic scandal was about to erupt, when the government of Belarus found out about the unauthorised re-export. The embassy of Belarus in Sofia forwarded a formal letter to the Bulgarian authorities about the fraud that had been used to export weapons manufactured in their country without their due consent.
VMZ – Sopot (Source: Duma Daily)
Sources say prime minister Kiril Petkov, deputy prime minister Kornelia Ninova and their chiefs of office –
Lena Borislavova and Kaloyan Metodiev were under pressure from two sides
– because of their unfulfilled commitments to Ukraine, in which Romania was also implicated, and also from Belarus, furious with the attempt to hand over their weapons to a country they are on unfriendly terms with.
Hard political pressure was being exerted on VMZ Sopot to urgently remanufacture the ammunition. The company replied it could not make such a commitment because then it would be late delivering on its contracts with other clients, including ones from Poland, Czechia and the USA, which it was already struggling to keep up with. In that situation, to cover up the scandalous affair,
the entire management of the state-owned company was replaced with persons who could be expected to promptly execute the politicians’ request.
Bivols sources at the security services informed us about an ongoing investigation, under which SANS was interviewing persons informed about the weapons deal. They were also investigating witness accounts of alleged abuse of office by
government officials receiving payments in return for facilitating the deal.
This makes it clear why parliament and the government might be in favour of sending no weapons from Bulgaria’s stockpile to Ukraine – such a decision leaves open channels for all kinds of schemes and pay-offs over the entire duration of the war. The business of profiteering from the war can continue.
The current scandal is not the only one Alguns has been embroiled in in connection with faulty ammunition. On 6 June 2015 an anti-tank hand grenade supplied by the company exploded during exercise and killed an American soldier. Four others were injured in the accident, two of whom were also American citizens. More about Alguns and its owner Alexander Dimitrov can be found in various media publications over the years, for example here and here.
Bucharest confirms deal was a fact
Bivol sent an official letter to Romanian economy minister Florin Spătaru, who forwarded our questions to the national defence company Romarm S.A.
“Romarm has an active purchase contract with the Bulgarian company Alguns“,
says the reply Bivol received from Gabriel Țuţu, director general of the Romanian company.
„The contract and its subsequent implementation are in compliance with the relevant legislation”, the Romanian CEO said further.
He refused to give any more information, pointing out that disclosing details about “the products, delivery and prices”
would go against the principles of market competition, protected by the law.”
Bivol asked for deputy prime minister Kornelia Ninova‘s comments on the case over a month ago but her team have not replied, although the deadline envisaged by the freedom of information act has now passed. We will reply when we are ready, Ninova’s press office said to Bivol.
Ivan Stoenchev, VMZ’s long serving CEO who was sacked by Kornelia Ninova, refused to comment in detail but did not deny our information about the scandalous sale of rockets via Romania:
„There are other authorities who can comment on that, in this case this has no bearing on us“.
Within days, however, we received a reply from foreign minister Teodora Genchovska’s office. „The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not received any reaction via diplomatic channels from the Republic of Belarus regarding any alleged export of Belarus-made ammunition by companies in the Republic of Bulgaria to EU member states, under license from the Ministry of the Economy and Industry and the Interministerial Commission on the Defence Industry and Security of Supply under the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria.“
CN RomaArm S.A. (Source: Twitter)
The ministry did not specify if they received such information through other channels, such as the security services. The MFA said that
„no interest has been expressed by the Belarusian side in any possible re-export of defence-related products
(DRP) originating from Belarus, nor has there been any exchange of correspondence with the competent authorities of Romania and Ukraine“.
There is a discrepancy between Genchovska’s position and Ninova’s reaction in refusing to comment on the deal. The MFA’s representatives are members of the weapons export control commission and it is impossible that they would be unaware of the case, if such a license had indeed been issued. SANS, who also has the right to appoint its representative members on the commission, must investigate the deal and the forging of documents from third countries.
“At the present moment the Ministry of \Foreign Affairs is not aware of any discussions or actions towards the implementation of a programme for the export of Bulgarian and Soviet defence-related products to EU countries with the purpose of their subsequent re-export to Ukraine.”
Genchovska’s team also emphasised that “the Republic of Bulgaria has a developed and well-functioning system for the export control of defence-related products in line with the highest European and global standards.”
“Bulgaria is a party to international legal instruments and export control regimes and it follows a consistent and transparent DRP export policy, including cases where re-export is concerned.”
In accordance with the current legal framework, „an export license to any destination is only granted on the basis of examination of the individual case in question.“
Parliamentary question to Kornelia Ninova (Source: Bivol)
The ministry reiterated also that the National Assembly’s decision of 4 May 2022 outlined “the framework for providing aid to Ukraine” –
„humanitarian, financial, military-technical, according to the Republic of Bulgaria’s abilities.“
On the deal with Alguns Genchovska demonstrated no particular eagerness to defend Ninova, and recommended that the information should be sought from the Ministry of the Economy and Industry.
Genchovska: 50 military flights to Poland have been performed
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially confirmed to Bivol the high number of flights from Bulgaria to Poland carrying weapons and ammunition.
“In the interval between 1 March and 9 June 2022 the MFA has received diplomatic notes and granted the necessary
diplomatic permits for 50 cargo flights
from airports on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria to the airport of Rzeszow in the Republic of Poland“.
The foreign ministry made clear that “the flights were carried out under ad-hoc permits for the transfer of defence-related products, issued by the Interministerial Commission for Export Control and Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction under the economy ministry, the end user of the exports being the Republic of Poland.”
Teodora Genchovska’s reply to Bivol
The ministry also confirmed they were aware of the special military products being exported on the flights from Bulgaria to Poland but did not specify the products’ type or quantity.
„The MFA has received information about the type, quantity, sender and recepient of the cargo on board,
the individual permits for the transfer of DRP issued by the Interministerial Commission for Export Control and Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, as well as the import certificates issued by the Polish side.“
At the same time the suggestion that Bulgaria may have routinely exported similar quantities to Poland does not bear scrutiny. No flights of this kind were carried out last year. „In the interval between 1 March 2021 and 9 June 2021 Bulgaria did not receive any permit requests for flights to the airport of Rzeszow in the Republic of Poland”, the reply from Teodora Genchovska‘s office made clear.
The information received from the ministry shows that given the average load capacity of the air planes, at least 3 500 tonnes of Bulgarian weapons and ammunition must have been shipped to Rzeszow. Since our enquiry covered an interval of 90 to 100 days, that means there must have been a military flight to Poland every other day. And as the war has been going on since then, in the following month
the total amount of the cargo delivered may have reached about 5 000 tonnes.
Poland: We are not sharing any details
“Due to the obvious security considerations at the present moment we can not provide any details regarding the military aid supplied to Ukraine.”
That was the reply from the Minstry of National Defence in Poland to Bivol’s enquiry, sent via our colleagues in the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) – Fundacja Reporterow in Warsaw.
Our questions conserned the information we have about multiple deliveries of weapons from Bulgaria to the military airport in Rzeszow. The Polish authority, however, recommended that we get in touch with the Bulgarian defence ministry to provide the answers.
„For information regarding the weapons, ammunition and other military equipment transferred to Ukraine and originating from the Republic of Bulgaria,
we suggest you contact the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence,” the authorities in Warsaw said.
Ministry of National Defence of Poland (Image: Wiadomosci.pl)
A key point here is that they did not deny that the flights from Bulgaria to Rzeszow were taking place but simply refused to comment in any detail on the specific types of weapons and ammunition.
Thanks to our colleagues at FR, the publisher of investigative website Frontstory.pl, we received yet another confirmation of the fact that deals of this type are indeed taking place and Poland is functioning as a hub for the transfer of military equipment to Ukraine.
Austria: Bulgaria is providing howitzers and T 72 tanks to Ukraine
During Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba‘s visit to Sofia at the end of April 2022 Bivol tried to obtain information about the real purpose of his trip. A source from foreign minister Teodora Genchovska’s office then assured us that
Bulgaria is not flaunting its military aid to Ukraine but that aid is nevertheless a fact.
According to the diplomatic source, Sofia is giving Ukraine its old Soviet-made T-72 tanks via third countries (see our article Dmytro Kuleba sked for weapons. Vigenin: An emphatic ‘no’).
That information was confirmed a month and a half later, still not by the authorities in Sofia. It is interesting that the Austrian army commented on the shipment of weapons from EU countries to Ukraine on their official YouTube channel (see video below).
According to the videocast, Bulgaria has given Ukraine heavy military machinery and artillery systems from the Cold War era. The information comes from Austrian colonel Markus Reisner, who claims that Kiyv has so far been provided with approximately 100 tanks – from Czechia (40), Poland (60)
and a certain number from Bulgaria, pointing out that the machines provided were of a kind the Ukrainian army was very familiar with
and comprised 2 tank battalions in total.
More specifically, T-72 M1 are mentioned. The video does not clarify how many of those machines were Bulgarian. According to various sources, Bulgaria has about 100 tanks of that kind. When it comes to artillery, most of the Soviet-era systems mentioned came from Estonia and Bulgaria.
According to the video, Bulgaria provided Ukraine with D-20 152-mm systems. The Soviet howitzers were made in the 1950s, they are operated by 10 persons and their range is up to 17 410 metres. Bulgaria has about 200 of those.
Artillery pieces and machines of that kind were photographed covered with tarpaulins and loaded on special trailers being towed down Tsarigradsko Chaussee boulevard in Sofia.
Image: bTV
As the videos show, they were later taken to Sofia airport and loaded onto military planes, most likely to Rzeszow in Poland. The airport in the border region is the main transport terminal for the supply of weapons from NATO countries to Ukraine.
Bivol continues to insist that the Bulgarian parliament and Council of Ministers must officially provide weapons to Ukraine. We insist also that institutions like SANS, the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime and the Public Prosecution must investigate
all attempts at profiteering from the war in Ukraine,
regardless of whether they aim to line the pockets of disreputable businessmen, boost a political party’s finances or enrich specific high-level government officials.
Nikolay Marchenko
Additional reporting by: Mariusz Sepioło (Fundacja Reporterow – Frontstory.pl)
***
If you find this article useful, support our work with a small donation.
Pay a Bivol Tax!
We will highly appreciate if you decide to support us with monthly donations keeping the option Monthly
IBAN: BG27 ESPY 4004 0065 0626 02
BIC: ESPYBGS1
Титуляр/Account Holder: Bivol EOOD
This post is also available in: Bulgarian
You must be logged in to post a comment.