May 29 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's parliament said on Tuesday that Volya party has submitted a motion calling for a temporary freezing of the government's projects for the acquisition of new fighter jets and armoured vehicles.
The populist opposition party led by businessman Veselin Mareshki holds 12 of 240 seats in parliament.
Volya’s proposal envisages a three-year moratorium on arms acquisitions, according to the draft decision published on the parliament’s website.
The moratorium aims to provide an opportunity for the development of a comprehensive policy regarding armament and taking the necessary and adequate measures, instead of making separate payments without a broader concept, Volya says in its motives for the motion accompanying the proposed draft decision.
At the same time, it is Bulgaria's duty to provide funding to sectors, which are already in crisis, such as healthcare and education, rather than making rash and unsound payments, Volya adds.
Earlier this month, Bulgaria's government asked parliament to approve the expenses related to the planned acquisition of 16 fighter jets in two stages and 150 armoured vehicles.
The first stage of the project for the purchase of fighter jets envisages the acquisition of no less than eight fighter aircraft for a total of some 1.8 billion levs ($1.1 billion/ 920.3 million euro), which have already been provided for in the state budget, the government said. The first stage also envisages the providing of integrated logistics support for a three-year period, training and training equipment, as well as ground support equipment.
The estimated value of the project for acquisition of 150 combat vehicles for the land forces is 1.46 billion levs. The time frame for implementation of the project is 12 years, the government said.
The main objective of the proposed acquisition of armoured vehicles is to meet NATO standards and to build national industrial capacity to support the life cycle of the acquired equipment and weapons, Bulgaria's defence ministry said earlier.
In June 2017, the defence ministry said it plans to spend 3.54 billion levs on rearmament programmes between 2017 and 2029. At the NATO summit in Wales in 2014, Bulgaria committed to a defence spending target of 2% of GDP, to be reached in the following 10 years.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)