Despite Bulgaria’s political stance against arms shipments to Ukraine, Bulgarian-made weapons and ammunition help the Ukrainian Defense Forces resist the Russian invasion.

Bulgarian weapons enter Ukraine through other countries without any direct agreement.

This is stated in the investigation of the EURActiv portal.

It is noted that since the beginning of 2021 to February 24, 2022, Ukraine has not concluded any direct agreements with Bulgarian arms companies, which are the main exporters of weapons and ammunition of Soviet-type used by the Ukrainian army.

According to the sources of the publication, only last year Bulgaria exported at least $1 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine through third countries.

According to former Acting Minister of Defense Velizar Shalamanov, “Bulgarian arms companies do not sell weapons and ammunition directly to Ukrainian companies, because there is a practice where this happens through foreign programs”.

He explains that in the UK, USA and Poland “there is a program with good funding”, through which weapons necessary for Ukraine are purchased.

“That is, the money is not Ukrainian, but British, American, Polish or European. Therefore, it is purchased through other companies,” said Shalamanov.

According to the publication, the Bulgarian arms industry in 2022 marked record sales of products abroad, in particular to Poland and Romania, from where weapons were sent to Ukraine.

It is noted that Bulgaria is one of the main manufacturers of weapons of Soviet designs and ammunition used by the Ukrainian army.

The largest Bulgarian state-owned arms factories have reported sales growth of 100% over the past year, and the total cost of arms export permits issued by Bulgaria since February 2022 is estimated at 1.1-1.3 billion euros.

It should be reminded that earlier the German edition Die Welt reported that last spring Bulgaria provided up to a third of the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ammunition. Also, Bulgaria has recently decided to resume the production of 122 mm shells at an enterprise that did not work for several decades.