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http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jdw/jdw020410_1_n.shtml Jane's Defense Weekly Bulgaria doubled arms exports in late 2001 By Elisaveta Konstantinova, JDW Special Correspondent, Sofia Bulgarian exports of military hardware amounted to $200 million in the second half of 2001, which was more than the country sold in all of 2000, government officials said at a recent arms industry round table. The boost was largely attributed to increased exports to EU and NATO member states and re-negotiated arms production licences with Russia. India was the largest market for Bulgarian weapons last year, followed by countries in Asia and Latin America. The latter is seen as a promising market. The Czech Republic, the UK and USA were the other destinations for small quantities of NATO-calibre weapons produced in Bulgaria. Assault rifles, short-range missiles, bombs, grenades and grenade-launchers comprise an essential part of Bulgarian arms exports. Bulgaria's reputation as an arms exporter dates from the Cold War era when the industry was the industrial powerhouse of the government. The 2001 export increase is still seen as only a slight recovery from the 1980s, when the industry was at its peak, producing between $800 million and $1.3 billion worth of arms a year, with only 7% allocated to domestic defence. The arms sector was a key government industry under the communist regime, accounting for 10% of total exports. The bulk of this was sold to leftist regimes, rebel armies and other Soviet-bloc client states. After the disintegration of the Soviet Bloc, most of Bulgaria's traditional arms markets fell under international embargoes, while other clients sought NATO-standard equipment. Desperate for cash, Bulgarian arms producers have been accused of selling weapons to embargoed regimes in the 1990s, drawing fierce criticism for 'sanction busting'. The country has toughened its arms trade controls since then under pressure from NATO and EU, which it aspires to join. --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
