By a government decision, connected with the contract for the first F-16 Block 70 fighter aircraft, an account has been opened at the US Federal Reserve in New York. Two similar decisions were made by previous governments in 2021 and 2022, but due to the fact that the previous parliaments have been so short-lived they have not been ratified and the country’s budget has lost USD 10 million.

Commenting on the matter, caretaker Minister of Defence Dimitar Stoyanov urged the current National Assembly to ratify the agreement between the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In Minister Stoyanov’s words, this will ensure returns from the money paid in advance under the 2019 F-16 agreement, amounting to USD 1.2 billion. Talking to the members of parliament, Dimitar Stoyanov stated that fighters from Spain would be joining the air policing mission in Bulgaria as of 1 November.