December 14 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's government said on Wednesday it approved the allocation of up to 19.9 million levs ($12 million/4.9 million euro) from the defence ministry budget to a project aimed to ensure the airworthiness of ageing Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets of the country's Air Force.
The implementation of the project will create the necessary conditions for Bulgaria's Air Force to maintain and develop capabilities for air policing, as well as to implement NATO’s collective defence mechanisms and EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy, the government said in a statement on Wednesday, following a weekly meeting.
This is the second tranche of budget funding for the project which totals 30.5 million levs.
In January, Bulgaria's government approved the allocation of up to 9.6 million levs for the project.
Last week, Bulgaria's defence ministry invited Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG to sign a framework agreement for the maintenance of MiG-29 fighter jets worth up to 81.3 million levs.
(1 euro=1.95583 levs)