A European country is earning a staggering amount of money from its military aid to Ukraine. It is Bulgaria, writes the Russian publication mk.ru.
Sofia expects to receive 500 million euros in revenue from military aid to Ukraine over the past three years. Kiev's largest donors have agreed to pay the Bulgarians generous compensation, the publication writes.
It cites an article on euractiv.com, which says that Bulgaria will earn over 500 million euros from military aid to Ukraine. The government announced that it had received 174 million euros from Denmark as part of two Ukrainian military aid contracts.
Bulgaria is currently trying to reduce its deficit to 3% of GDP in order to enter the eurozone on January 1, 2026. In this case, military revenues are particularly important for the Balkan country. The Bulgarian government announced that it had received 174 million euros from Denmark under two military aid contracts for Ukraine, which will help offset the country's budget deficit. Bulgarian authorities expect at least another 300 million euros from the US and the European Commission as compensation for sending state military equipment to Kiev.
“By helping Ukraine, we are actually helping ourselves“, said Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov on Wednesday, February 5.
Bulgaria is sending its old military equipment to Ukraine, which is subject to replacement because it was manufactured to Soviet standards, and with the money it receives from the allies it can invest in the purchase of new Western weapons. “The military aid we are providing is no longer necessary. We send everything that is not included in the army's equipment for peacetime and wartime“, he said the minister.
Bulgaria has so far sent six packages of military aid to Ukraine - ammunition, armored vehicles and malfunctioning air defense missiles. The government keeps secret what exactly is being sent to Kiev, but it is known that the main aid is ammunition, as well as missiles for the key S-300 air defense missile systems.
The Balkan country is one of the largest owners and producers of Soviet-standard equipment, which the Ukrainian army needs. And while Bulgarian military plants are gradually starting to produce ammunition according to NATO standards, large parts of the industry still produce Soviet-standard weapons, exported to Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and for the past three years mainly to Ukraine, recalls euractiv.bg.
Despite the benefit for the Bulgarian army, which receives good money for old arms, pro-Russian forces in the country remain opposed to military aid to Ukraine. The most vocal opponents are President Rumen Radev, the pro-Russian Bulgarian Socialist Party, which is in the ruling coalition, and the large pro-Kremlin party “Vazrazhdane“, a partner of the German AfD in the European Parliament.