The Bulgarian government and the German defence group Rheinmetall have signed an agreement in Sofia to build a gunpowder and 155 mm artillery shell factory at the state-owned Vazov Machine Building Works (VMZ) in Sopot.
The deal was signed by Rheinmetall Chief Executive Officer Armin Papperger and VMZ Executive Director Ivan Getsov. The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, Economy Minister Petar Dilov, and Germany’s ambassador to Bulgaria, Irene Maria Plank.
“There is much work ahead to unlock the full potential of the Bulgarian plant. We have established a stable and predictable partnership with our partners,” said Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.
Papperger said he expected other European companies to invest in Bulgaria’s defence industry.
The nearly 500 million euro investment will create around 1,000 jobs and is seen as key to modernising Bulgaria’s defence sector. It is part of broader EU and NATO efforts to strengthen Europe’s defence capabilities.
The international scientific conference “Bulgarians in the Northern Black Sea Region” will be held in Sofia on October 27 and 28, 2025 in the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Prof...
The annual planned maintenance of Kozloduy NPP Unit 6 starts today and is expected to last until early December, the nuclear power plant has announced. During the shutdown, technical maintenance of the systems and facilities will be carried out,..
Saturday will start off with lows between 6°C and 11°C, dropping to around 6°C in Sofia. Skies will brighten for a time over northern Bulgaria before turning cloudy again later, with rain moving in by evening and overnight. Cloudy spells are also..
An earthquake with a 6.1 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Western Turkey at 22.48 hours last night. There were over 40 aftershocks after the..
Frol and Frosia are the newest residents of the Bear Sanctuary Belitsa, according to the Four Paws Foundation, which runs the bear sanctuary in..
Bulgaria’s draft social security budget indicates that the minimum wage from 1 January 2026 will be lower than the level set out in the Labour Code ,..
Partly Cloudy