Bulgaria is ready to transfer about 100 units of Soviet-era armored vehicles to Ukraine.

The transfer may begin in late September or early October.

Todor Tagarev, Bulgarian Defense Minister, announced this during a joint briefing with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov in Odesa.

He noted that Bulgaria has offered Ukraine about a hundred Soviet-era armored vehicles that are in storage.

However, the Bulgarian Minister emphasized that the Bulgarian parliament is yet to ratify the agreement on the transfer of these armored vehicles.

“As soon as the Parliament returns to its sessions in September, I believe that this will be one of the priority tasks, and by the end of September or early October, we will have the ratification of this agreement. I think that then, the transfer can begin,” the Minister added.

According to the official, the process of supplying armored vehicles is slowing down because the armored vehicles intended for transfer to Ukraine are in the warehouses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bulgaria.

To start the transfer, the agency must sign an agreement with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and submit the document to the Bulgarian parliament for ratification.

The joint conclusion of the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs indicates that the transfer of armored vehicles will not harm Bulgaria’s defense capabilities.

In July, Militarnyi reported that Bulgaria would consider the transfer of about 100 armored personnel carriers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs warehouses to Ukraine as defense assistance. With this transfer, Bulgarian politicians expect to receive M1117 armored vehicle replacements from the United States.

As previously reported, Bulgarian arms exports increased by 200% since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to media reports, almost all of the weapons produced in 2022 were exported to Ukraine through intermediaries.

Last year, Bulgaria supplied Kyiv mainly with ammunition for old Soviet-era weapons systems, which Ukraine continues to rely on in the battlefield against the Russian invaders. The country is now trying to quickly adapt its defense plants to produce new weapons systems and 155-mm artillery ammunition.