Bulgaria delays delivery of 100 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. Reason

Euractiv reports, citing deputies of Bulgaria's ruling party. 

"Bulgaria can help, but this is not happening at the required pace, and I hope this will improve. We voted on the decision for armoured personnel carriers almost three months ago, but in three months, we cannot transport a hundred APCs from Sofia to Ruse (a city at the Danube River in North-Eastern Bulgaria)," said MP Mirchev.

According to Bulgaria's Defense Minister Todor Tagarev, the delay in the delivery was due to the country's clarification of whether NATO allies could finance the transportation of the APCs. 

"This is not an elementary transport operation because quite a number of train sets have to be engaged," Tagarev said.

The publication asked the Bulgarian defense ministry to give reasons why the delivery of APCs has not yet taken place, but received no response. 

Military assistance from Bulgaria

On April 11, 2023, the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense confirmed the fact of negotiations on the transfer of MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, provided that it receives more modern combat aircraft from its Western partners.

On June 6, 2023, Defense Minister Todor Tagarev said that the new Bulgarian government was ready to provide military assistance to Ukraine. However, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev later said that it would be a mistake to provide Ukraine with ammunition.

The Bulgarian government announced a new aid package on June 21, 2023, which included weapons and ammunition that are in Bulgarian warehouses and do not need to be purchased.

On June 27, 2023, the Bulgarian Council of Ministers approved a new package of military and military-technical assistance to Ukraine.

On July 14, 2023, Bulgaria officially announced the transfer of heavy weapons to Ukraine for the first time. This is the largest one-time military aid package from the country. 

On July 21, 2023, after a long debate, the Bulgarian Parliament supported the supply of a batch of armored personnel carriers from the warehouses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Ukraine. On February 3, it was announced that the transfer process had begun.