Bulgaria did not trust Ukraine to repair its combat aircraft.

Despite the fact that the "Ukroboronprom" spoke out with a lot of criticism in relation to the Ministry of Defense of Bulgaria, the authorities decided to transfer the fighters MiG-29 to repair the Russian side. This is due not only to the acceptable cost and timing, but also to the quality of the work performed. It should be clarified that the main argument of the Ministry of Defense of Bulgaria against the authorities was the scandal between Ukraine and Croatia, when it became clear that the specialists of Ukroboronprom, repairing MiG-21 combat aircraft, had completely disreputable them, thereby undermining the country's defense capability.

Earlier Bulgaria intended to decommission the Soviet MiG-29 fighters, however, because it would take a very substantial amount of money to purchase new planes, which the Bulgarian budget can not afford, this decision was abandoned.

It should be clarified that the total amount of the contract concluded between Russia and Bulgaria for the repair of 15 MiG-29 fighters is 50 million dollars, while the repair services of these planes are expected to be realized within the next four years.

* MiG-29 (for the codification of NATO: Fulcrum - "Point of support" or "Means of achieving the goal") - Soviet multi-role fighter of the fourth generation, developed in the EDO MiG.