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Defense Minister Krassimir Karakachanov or another representative of the ministry will sign a contract tomorrow for the purchase of new armored fighting vehicles for the Special Operations Forces (SSO) for BGN 50 million.
It was not until December 1 that the Defense Ministry published the technical specifications of the different types of armored fighting vehicles, which it was supposed to negotiate with potential contractors.
The negotiation of the deal was conducted in the dark, without a public tender, as the government uses one of the loopholes in the law that allows direct negotiation of contracts that affect national security. It is unclear whether the ministry has solicited offers from other companies to have competence in the procedure, as it is kept completely secret. It has been known for months that the company we are negotiating with is one. This is the Samokov Samarm company, which is jointly owned by Samel-90 and International Armor Group BG. The ministry’s press release says that the contract will be signed with the Bulgarian company SAMEL-90 AD.
The order must be fulfilled in 3 years in the period 2021-2023. For this amount, the special forces must receive around 70 machines, of which only 12 will be heavily armored and turret armed. Most vehicles will only have light type B5 protection, which protects against firing from a Kalashnikov rifle. In the first year, “Samel” will receive BGN 10 million for his work, and in the next two, BGN 20 million.
On November 21, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov visited the SAMEL-90 plant, and although the Defense Ministry had not officially announced which company they were negotiating with, the prime minister wrote on his Facebook account: “The government will provide additional weapons to our Special Forces, machinery and equipment that will contribute to the successful implementation of their tasks. exported to Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and even the Chinese army. “
To make the purchase possible without public procurement, on November 19 the Council of Ministers approved a report from the Minister of Defense to determine the existence of a basic interest related to the security of the country, which must be protected at the time of entering into a contract. of public procurement in the cases provided for in art. . 149, para. 1, point 2 of the Public Procurement Law in the execution of an investment project “Increase in mobility and protection of the personnel of the Special Operations Forces”.
The purpose of the procedure chosen through direct negotiation is to avoid postponement of the process and appeals from lost participants.
The government approved a report “on determining the existence of a greater interest related to the security of the country” and on the modernization of the T-72 tanks.
BGN 100 million is being spent in the same non-transparent way for the modernization of the Graf Ignatievo air base, where the new multi-role F-16 fighters will be deployed. As OFFNews wrote, at least the first part of the money will be spent without actual public procurement, and the companies chosen to build and supply the equipment remain a closely guarded secret. The Defense Ministry denied information to OFFNews, as well as to the GERB deputy, Hristo Gadzhev, justifying that “access affects the interests of a third party and has explicitly refused to provide the requested public information, except in cases of higher public interest” . From the responses of the Ministry of Defense, it is only clear that, as of November 26, the Ministry of Defense has already entered into contracts for BGN 14.8 million for construction on the Air Force base.
