The Ministries of Defense of Bulgaria and France will conclude an agreement for joint acquisition of 3D radars, explained the Minister of Defense Atanas Zapryanov during a hearing in the relevant parliamentary committee.
On Tuesday, the Council of Ministers adopted a decision terminating the procedure in connection with the implementation of an investment project “Acquisition of new three-coordinate radars“ and approved the opening of a new procedure for awarding a public procurement contract.
The decision of the Council of Ministers switches to a “government-government“ procedure and a contract will be signed between the Ministry of Defense of Bulgaria and the Ministry of Defense of France.
According to him, according to this change, the 3D radar project becomes legitimate for financing under the “SAIF“ mechanism, as it falls within the European Commission's requirement for joint acquisition between EU member states.
On Monday, we will sign a framework agreement with the Minister of Defense of France, in Paris. It is not financially binding, but it is a guarantee that when Bulgaria prepares the list of projects and presents them to the European Commission for approval for financing under the “SAIF“ mechanism, we will have a document that we have concluded an agreement with the French government and are proceeding with the joint acquisition of these radars, said Minister Atanas Zapryanov.
After signing the agreement, Bulgaria will submit an application to the EC, including the project, and after approval of the procedure and approval of the financing, the agreement will be developed in detail with the French government, the minister explained.
Zapryanov pointed out that there are no funds in the department's budget for this radar project and the procedure should have been terminated if these actions had not been taken.