Bulgarian companies will be able to apply for various procurements to the US army during its stay in Bulgaria.
They will compete with US and other foreign companies under the conditions established and checked in practice transparent procedures.
This was explained at a seminar in the southern Bulgarian city of Sliven on May 11 by a United States European Command representative and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Bulgaria to a group of businessmen from the region.
One of the military bases, which will soon be used jointly by the Bulgarian and the US militaries, is located in the village of Novo Selo, near Sliven.
The seminar was organised by the Bulgarian NATO Defence College graduate association. Yanko Yankov, a Movement for Rights and Freedoms MP and deputy chair of the parliamentary Committee on Defence and Domestic Security, the defence attache at the US Embassy in Sofia Lt-Col Paul Brotson, AmCham executive director Valentin Georgiev and Bulgarian military members attended the seminar.
US officers explained that companies applying for procurement should be registered in the central register of suppliers. An important condition for their selection is to offer good quality at competitive prices and to have a good reputation of honest partnerships.
The US military will seek companies for maintenance and repair of the existing sites as well as suppliers of office and hospital supplies, fuels and lubricants, public services, transport vehicles, equipment and maintenance.
On June 27 and 28 this year, AmCham will organise a conference in Sofia on commercial opportunities created by the shared Bulgarian-US military facilities, Georgiev said.
In another development on May 11, Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), the country’s dominant fixed-line operator, said it was approved to participate in international tenders of NATO. The approval came from the Economy and Energy Ministry in Sofia.
“Our participation in such tenders shows the high potential and the technical capabilities that the BTC has successfully demonstrated in front of its customers,” said Dennis Wallach, chief executive director of BTC, in a statement to the media.
In his words, after the recognition in last year’s European Commission report on Bulgaria of BTC’s efforts to encourage competition and to work for the liberalisation of the fixed-line market in the country, the company’s approval for NATO procurement is another proof “that BTC has turned into a leading European telecommunication company that Bulgarian people could be proud of”.
The BTC approval applies to International Competitive Bidding (ICB), which is the main method used by NATO to sign deals for the implementation of investment projects, as well as procurement of goods and services.
The implementation of NATO investment projects includes a large number of activities from the development and delivery of software to building infrastructure.
ICBs are held within the NATO framework for investment in security, also known as the NATO Security Investment Programme – NSIP.
To be able to take part in international NATO procedures, Bulgarian entities should be financially stable and possess technical capabilities and excellent trade reputation. They should also correspond to the specific requirements envisaged in the tender invitations.
