Bulgaria Offers Russia’s MiG Corp Contract to Repair 15 Aircraft for $49Mln

Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry offered Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG a four-year contract worth $49 million for maintenance of 15 Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jets, Russian media reported Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry needs 12 MiG-29A jets and three MiG-29UB trainers to be repaired, the Kommersant newspaper said.

The ministry was reported to have offered Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG a $49 million four-year contract for maintenance of the jets.

Soviet-made MiGs amount to a huge part of Bulgaria's combat aircraft fleet. Their replacement with newer NATO-compatible fighter jets has been on the agenda of the country's authorities over the past decade.

In February, media reported that Sofia had signed a deal with Russian aircraft company MiG to repair its aircraft citing the company's Director General Ilya Tarasenko. However, the Bulgarian Defense Ministry has denied this information.