Nikolay Nenchev

The Bulgarian government will decide at its regular meeting on Wednesday whether to approve the contract devised by the Defence Ministry on the repair of the engines of MiG-29 fighter jets by Poland.

The contract, which is entitled "draft decision for approval of a draft agreement between Bulgaria and Poland for cooperation in the military area", comes tenth on the agenda.

Bulgarian Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev said on Wednesday that the contracts with Poland on the repair of the MiG-29 fighter jets are expected to be finalised at the end of August.

This became clear from the minutes of the regular meeting of the Council of Ministers, when Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov asked Nenchev on the progress of the negotiations.

Bulgarian Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev said on Thursday that nine of the country's nineteen MiG-29 fighter jets need repair.

Nenchev added that progress was being made towards the signing of the maintenance contract with Poland, where the engines are to be repaired.

Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev said that Bulgaria is working on finalising the contract with Poland on the maintenance of the MiG-29 fighter jets.

The contract is expected to be signed by the end of the month, Nenchev said in an interview for Reuters.

The Bulgarian cabinet approved on Wednesday the country's participation in negotiations for the purchase of new fighter jets.

This was announced by Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev after the government granted him mandate to head negotiations with Belgium, the Netherlands and Greece.

Bulgaria will be hosting 14 US tanks for military training at the Novo Selo polygon, as stated by Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev in an interview for bTV news Wednesday.

He noted that there will be a total of 250 tanks that will be sent to a total of six Eastern European countries. The announcement had been made by US Defense Minister Ash Carter June 23.

The government is due to hold a session and decide whether or not to proceed with the acquisition of new multirole aircraft, after a June 30 deadline to work on a draft bill expired.

Bulgaria, whose fleet of MiGs is considered to be incompatible with NATO requirements, can either get second-hand F-16s, used Eurofighters, or newly-made Gripens.

A closed-door session of Bulgaria's government is due in the next few days over the prospective acquisition of multirole fighters.

Jule 30 recently turned into a self-imposed deadline for ministers to specify whether Bulgaria will purchase second-hand jets (second-hand F-16s or used Eurofighters) or newly built aircraft (Swedish-built Gripens).

Sofia has given the green light to the stationing of heavy arms in Bulgaria on a temporary basis, Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov has said.

His comments on Wednesday came after mixed signals sent from US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and his Bulgarian counterpart Nikolay Nenchev.

Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev has said Sofia has received no official proposal from Washington about the stationing of heavy equipment in the country.