Bulgaria’s premier says biggest risk from Ukraine war is safety of nuclear plants

SOFIA, Bulgaria

The war between Ukraine and Russia is not expected to spread to Bulgaria, but the biggest risk for the Bulgarian people is the one surrounding the safety of Ukrainian nuclear power plants, Bulgaria’s prime minister said Monday.

Kiril Petkov evaluated the developments in Ukraine while speaking to private television channel bTV and said although there was not a risk of the war spreading to Bulgarian soil, last week’s fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine was worrisome.

Bulgaria is taking all essential measures and will maintain a massive amount of wheat stocks in order to prevent price hikes in bread products, said Petkov, noting the country would have wheat stocks that would suffice at least until 2023.

The Bulgarian state will also intervene in fuel and wheat prices to stop possible hikes when necessary, he said.

Petkov also commented on military aid to Ukraine, saying a few MiG-type Russian-made warplanes in the hands of the country's air force would not be included in the military-logistical aid Bulgaria could provide.

He said Bulgaria’s inventory of capable planes was already few and it was out of the question for it to hand them over to any other country at this time.

Bulgaria's air fleet consists of 15 MiG-29s, 12 MiG-29As and three MiG fighter jets used for training purposes. However, various evaluations published by news outlets suggest these aircraft are at the end of their technological lifespan and only eight to nine of them are useable.

The country has an army of 30,000 personnel, all of whom are professionals, and the armed forces cannot fill personnel vacancies due to a lack of candidates.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.

At least 406 civilians have been killed and 801 others injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to UN figures. But the international body has maintained that conditions on the ground have made it "difficult to verify" the true number of civilian casualties.

More than 1.7 million people have also fled to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas