Mikoyan

Bulgaria may be forced to revise its 2015 budget towards the end of the year to provide funding for a potential repair of some of its ageing Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets, Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev has said.

Bulgaria's prosecuting authority is launching an inspection in connection with an interview of Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev in which he states that he has been offered a bribe.

Bulgarian Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev announced that the country's air force could retire its MiG-29 fighter jets in September.

The current contract for maintenance of the jets expires on September 9 and Nenchev refuses to sign a new one, as he deems that the Russian offer is unfavourable.

Repair works on the MiG fighter jets that are currently part of Bulgaria's aircraft fleet are quite expensive to repair, Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev asserted Friday answering to a question in Parliament.

Pakistan is to make its own proposal to Bulgaria concerning the overhaul of its aircraft fleet, media reports suggest.

Currently the US, Italy and Sweden have been bidding to answer Bulgaria's need to have a squadron of 16 fighter jets replacing the existing one which is made up of Russian-made outdated MiGs.

Poland is ready to provide servicing for Bulgaria's Russian-made MiG-29 fighter aircraft, Polish Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak has said.

Bulgaria might opt to send its old MiG-29s to Poland for refurbishment, a defense news website has suggested.

In a text on Bulgaria, Defense Industry Daily points to the fact that carrying out hardware updates of MiGs in Russia is "awkward" nowadays for Eastern Europe with NATO's moves in the region.

Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev criticized the tightening of the country's defense budget and urged for its immediate increase. 

“The country must increase its defense budget to at least 1.5% of GDP and to bring it back to the 2%, which we had before the start of the economic downturn,” Plevneliev said after his meeting with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. 

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev suggested that Russia was intentionally provoking extraordinary flights of Bulgarian fighters.