Comment by Emilia Milcheva:
The strategic EU project for the production of gunpowder and shells according to NATO standards at VMZ-Sopot turned out to be the subject of a subversive campaign at the end of negotiations with one of the largest arms companies - the German Rheinmetall.
A signal of violations at VMZ-Sopot cast a shadow on the planned joint venture with the German concern, and the president affirmed vlogger Stanislav Tsanov as a whistleblower who can be trusted. These are the direct effects of the meeting between them after the allegations of an anonymous VMZ employee about the draining of the enterprise, sexual assault and harmful working conditions - and the insidious intentions of Rheinmetall, which were announced on Tsanov's YouTube channel "Forward and Upward". The influencer has over 681 thousand subscribers to his channel, and his career started on the TV channel ALFA of the extremist and pro-Russian party "Attack". Later, he established himself with anti-vaccine rhetoric, combined with hybrid narratives, in which conspiracy theories and anti-Western messages are intertwined.
At the meeting of "Dondukov" 2 Tsanov has also taken the whistleblower - this time unmasked - and a young woman who complained of harassment at work with indecent proposals.
The story
The video titled “BG schemes with weapons (insider)” was published 6 days after the visit of EC President Ursula von der Leyen to the factory. It shows footage from this visit - when the car in which she was traveling was attacked by protesters from “Vazrazhdane” with anti-NATO chants and the EU flag with a black swastika scratched on it was burned.
There are also comments that the factory is being drained by traders who sell the products at many times higher prices, suggesting that Bulgaria is on the side of Ukraine, but is losing. According to the allegations in the video, the basic salary at VMZ is 1,000 leva and the remuneration increases thanks to bonuses. The most serious accusation, however, is that Rheinmetall actually wants to privatize VMZ-Sopot through machinations (a contract that cannot be fulfilled), and even receives inside information from the plant.
What are the real facts
VMZ-Sopot is fulfilling orders for 1 billion leva in 2025. Since 2022, the number of employees has increased by over 1,300 people. VMZ currently employs 4,950 people, with the average gross salary at the plant being 2,430 leva and food vouchers of 200 leva per month being provided, according to the company's position, according to which the information in the video is false and biased. “There is a risk of compromising not only the company, but also the Republic of Bulgaria as a Euro-Atlantic partner”, VMZ-Sopot stated.
The video was released in early September - the month in which negotiations with Rheinmetall for the two gunpowder and 155-mm howitzer plants at the VMZ-Sopot site are expected to be finalized. At least, such an intention was expressed by the CEO of the German concern Armin Paperger at the end of August.
“I am convinced that in the next 3 to 4 weeks we will find a solution and a major investment program will be launched”, he said at the opening of the largest artillery plant in Europe near Hanover. Negotiations with Rheinmetall for a joint venture (51% for the German company, 49% for VMZ, b.a.) are at an advanced stage, the Minister of Economy and Industry Petar Dilov also recently confirmed in parliament.
The German company will invest in the joint venture and will transfer technologies. If the agreements are finalized, the new plants should be operational within 3 years. The deal is for about 1 billion euros, with financing for the Bulgarian side (over 480 million euros) to be provided through the European SAFE credit mechanism.
Reactions
Regarding the press release that Radev had promised to notify the “competent authorities” after the “journalistic revelations”, Deutsche Welle sent an inquiry as to whether he had already done so and whether these authorities were the National Security Agency and the Prosecutor's Office. However, there was no answer. SANS also did not respond to the question of DV whether a signal had been received from “Dondukov” 2.
The political reactions are ambiguous, but none are as sharp as those of PP-DB MP Yavor Bozhankov, who described what is happening as an “incompetent and brazen attempt to sabotage” the “main penny of the state” in a post on Facebook.
According to GERB leader Boyko Borisov, the president is trying to prevent the deal: “All attempts to prevent this investment from happening, including from this party leader, because he does not behave like a president, to prevent it from happening, to scare investors, I suppose that is the goal”.
In a comment, Rumen Radev once again highlighted his personal contribution to how Rheinmetall is investing in Bulgaria thanks to him. “Here (for the joint venture, b.a.) the responsibility is now entirely with the executive branch, so I have no intention of spoiling anything, but when the presidential institution receives a signal of abuses, of irregularities, I am obliged to react”.
A similar position was expressed by the leader of “We continue the change” Assen Vassilev, who does not criticize the president: “There is a desire for investment with European funds and from there on it is a matter of governing the Bulgarian state for it to happen in the best way for the state under the most favorable conditions”. They plan to ask the PP for additional information about the deal with Rheinmetall.
Due to the classified technologies and production volumes, it is hardly possible to have complete information, unless the deputies receive partial information at a closed session of the Defense Committee. This has already been done for other arms deals, for example, for the purchase of F-16s.
Changing the narrative
Two of the political forces represented in parliament are opponents of the deal with Rheinmetall - “Vazrazhdane” and “Velichye”. Both parties regularly express anti-European positions, oppose the eurozone and support for Ukraine. A day before the video on Tsanov's channel, the leader of “Velichye” Ivelin Mihaylov stated in parliament that the technology for producing gunpowder was polluting, that they most likely want to bankrupt VMZ, ”to steal it”, and that Bulgaria will lose from this investment.
The chairman of “Vazrazhdane” Kostadin Kostadinov used the occasion to attack, saying that the investment “is actually a Bulgarian loan”. In recent months, however, only “Vazrazhdane” has maintained the anti-Ukrainian narrative, while the president, for example, has replaced it with domestic political attacks along the Borisov-Peevski axis. This tandem is also the subject of criticism from the PP-DB, but also from the rest of the opposition such as MECH, as well as “Vazrazhdane” and “Velichye”, with whom the PP-DB has value differences. However, the national populists intend to support the vote of no confidence submitted by “Continuing the Change-Democratic Bulgaria” and MECH.
Test for Bulgaria
A test for the government, but mainly for European security, is whether the partnership with Rheinmetall will fail. The fate of the deal is not an economic issue, but a test of Bulgaria's ability to protect European defense interests and the trust of its strategic partners.
And the president - if he wants to help investigative journalists, he should invite the team of the Anti-Corruption Fund. They have something to tell about Uncle Trevichko/Kovachki and the “Eight Dwarfs”.