Sofia signs helicopter agreement
SOFIA (SeeNews) – Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry signed a deal yesterday with French Societe Generale for a 249.5-million-euro loan to be used as a deposit with French Eurocopter for 18 helicopters. The Council of Ministers approved the loan on Thursday from the French bank as a guarantee deposit to the deal with Eurocopter, Defense Minister Veselin Bliznakov told a news conference. «The guarantee deposit amounts to 60 percent of the value of the contract, which is 358 million euros. The bank Societe Generale will transfer to the company supplier the sum of 249.5 million euros,» Bliznakov said. The deposit will be reimbursed from the budget of the Defense Ministry in the period 2006-2011, he added. Eurocopter will supply 12 AS 532 AL Cougar helicopters for the Bulgarian air force and six AS 565 MB Panther aircraft for the navy by 2012.
