Bulgaria's Government Assures the Procedure for the Acquisition of a New Type of Fighter is Transparent

(BulgarianMilitary.com) - The Chairman of the parliamentary group of PP GERB, Tsvetan Tsvetanov envisages that the Government's proposal to start negotiations with the U.S. on the purchase of 8 F-16s will be approved  by the Parliament. This, he stated on Sunday, in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio, learned BulgarianMilitary.com.

According to him, the plan, approved by the Council of Ministers last week, "is the most optimal option possible and something that our country could be proud of in decades. This is a security investment."

Tsvetanov recalled that the final decision was political, but also stressed on the importance of a transparent procedure. He rejected the criticism from the opposition party BSP and the leader of NFSB Valery Simeonov that are against the start of negotiations with the U.S. referring to the fact that the procedure for the acquisition is not transparent. The PP GERB chairman reminded also that the previous decision, to be selected the Swedish fighters, was canceled precisely for that reason and then a new procedure was launched.

He pointed out as an advantage that the U.S. offer does not include hidden costs, thus Bulgaria will not have to acquire anything through separate contracts with third countries or licenses from other governments.

In another interview for Nova TV, in response to a question whether the Parliament is not going to become untenable, by contradicting its previous decisions on fighters acquisition, Tsvetanov said that the current procedure is the most transparent - with a working group, a report, a decision by the Council of Ministers and debate in the Parliament.

About the F-16, he explained that the fighter is fully equipped and can be integrated to...