A tender for the repair of up to ten engines for MiG-29 aircraft has been terminated as no application for participation has been submitted. This is recorded in a decision of the Acting Minister of Defense Atanas Zapryanov, published in the Public Procurement Register.
At the beginning of February this year, the Ministry of Defense launched a public order for the repair of 10 engines for the MiG-29. The total estimated value is EUR 17,537,311.53 excluding VAT (EUR 21,044,773.84 including VAT).
According to the public procurement register, the Ministry of Defense is looking for someone to carry out “major/overhaul (MRO) of up to 10 RD-33, ser. 2 engines for MiG-29 aircraft to restore their inter-repair resource and inter-repair service life”. The aim is to conclude a framework agreement for a period of 48 months. The latter means that Bulgaria will use the Soviet MiG-29s for at least another four years. However, with the now-failed order, it is not clear what exactly will happen to these fighters.
Just a few weeks ago, it became clear that the estimated costs for the operation of the MiG-29 and Su-25 aircraft for 2026 will be BGN 10 million higher than for the previous two years. The Ministry of Defense has predicted that the operation of the two old Soviet aircraft will cost a little over BGN 114 million in total, against BGN 104 million, which was set for the previous two years.
The maintenance of the MiG-29 will cost BGN 86.4 million, and the Su-25 – BGN 27.6 million. Estimates are made for services and supplies based on annual planning and operational statistics for both types of aircraft.
The amount for 2024 and 2025 includes the cost of salaries, infrastructure maintenance and parts (services and supplies of aviation parts and fuel). Money for training is not included in the amount, since for the MiG-29 and Su-25 it has not been conducted in the last 5 years.
The Soviet aircraft are not scheduled to be decommissioned until initial operational readiness of the F-16 is achieved. “This would deprive the Bulgarian Air Force of key capabilities and make it impossible to fulfill constitutional and alliance commitments for an extended period of time. For this reason, the termination of the operation of the MiG-29 and Su-25 will be closely linked to the acquisition of the same capabilities with the F-16,” stated Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov in response to parliamentary questions.
Given the difficult-to-predict situation at the moment, no consultations have been held with Ukraine regarding the further operation of the MiG-29 and Su-25 aircraft, it is also clear from the words of Minister Zapryanov.
From various public procurements in recent years, related to maintenance and repair, Bulgaria has about 15 MiG-29 and 14 Su-25. On several occasions, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense managed to patch up the situation surrounding these aircraft and continue to keep them in the air with various contracts with Poland and Belarus. This was the case with the modernization of 8 Su-25s in Belarus and the purchase of engines from Poland for the MiGs.
In practice, only Ukraine, Russia and Belarus can be searched for repairs with a license, and engines can be provided by the same countries and Poland and Slovakia. Bratislava announced some time ago that it is giving everything related to the MiG-29 to Ukraine. Poland did the same, but they kept a few units and provided us with two engines. All this, however, is considered insufficient to maintain the planes until 2028-2030, when it is assumed that the ones bought from Bulgaria for about BGN 5 billion will be able to be fully used. from the USA 16 F-16 fighters.
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