Court to Hear Case against Former Defence Minister over MIG-29 Upgrade Deal

Sofia City Court will consider the case against former Defence Minister Nikolai Nenchev on 11 July. He is charged with malfeasance in office over a deal for modernization of MiG-29 jet fighter engines.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, as Minister of Defense, Nenchev did not fulfill his official duties in accordance with the requirements of the Law on Defence and Armed Forces (LDAF) and did not provide aviation safety and airworthiness of military aircraft from fighter aircraft of the Military Air Force of the country.

At the previous hearing on the case, Bulgaria’s President Roumen Radev, who was a former head of the air forces, was interviewed as a witness. Speaking to journalists after that court hearing, President Radev said that at the time of Nenchev’s term of office as defence minister, the aviation was in full collapse. Nenchev dismissed the accusations.