The Council of Ministers approved a bill to amend and supplement the 2019 State Budget Act to accommodate the costs of buying eight F-16 fighter aircraft for the Bulgarian Air Force, the government press service reported. The ministers wrote in their reasoning for the bill that this new type of fighter aircraft is extremely important for Bulgaria's national security and defence and for implementing NATO's collective defence mechanisms and the EU's common defence and security policy.

A supercomputer will be built in Bulgaria, said on Monday European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Digital Society Maria Gabriel during a news conference in Sofia after meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the Director General of DG CONNECT (Directorate General of Communication, Networks, Content and Technology) at the European Commission (EC), Roberto Viola. This will make Bulgaria one of eight countries with such a European supercomputer, the Commissioner explained.

On Monday, the US Office of Defence Cooperation in Bulgaria formally delivered to the Ministry of Defence a Letter of Offer and Acceptance encompassing a potential agreement on the acquisition by Bulgaria of eight F-16 Block 70 fighter aircraft, weapons systems, associated long-term sustainment and support systems, comprehensive training for pilots and support personnel, the US Embassy in Sofia said in an official statement.

The concept for the Balkan Gas Hub was presented at a forum in Parliament on 4 June. Opening the forum, parliamentary energy committee chair Valentin Nikolov said that the operation of an energy exchange should be regulated by legal amendments to the Energy Act which will be put up for public consultation.

Bulgaria expects the United States to make an offer soon to sell it eight new F-16 fighter jets for its army at $1.2 billion, the defense ministry said on Tuesday. The US State Department approved the possible sale of eight F-16 aircraft and related equipment at an estimated cost of $1.67 billion, a Pentagon agency said on Monday. European Union and NATO member Bulgaria is looking to replace its aging Soviet-made MiG-29s and improve compliance with NATO standards.

In a ceremony marking the start of construction works on an intersystem gas connection between Bulgaria and Greece, the two countries' prime ministers - Boyko Borissov and Alexis Tsipras, respectively - broke ground on the project and signed a section of the pipeline. “Over the years, we heard a lot of talk about interconnectors and diversification. Well, we quietly did some actual work and today we are launching the project,” said Borissov during the official ceremony. He added that the pipeline allows for real and complete diversification of natural gas supplies.

A two-day forum on the business potential of the East European markets for liquefied natural gas (LNG) opened in Sofia on Monday. The forum is co-organised by the Washington-based Institute for Energy Research and the Centre for Balkan and Black Sea Studies.

Bulgaria has the highest percentage of female students of information and communication technology in the European Union, at 33%, EU statistics agency Eurostat said on April 25. The country is two percentage points of its northern neighbour and fellow EU member Romania.

Five internationally known investors have submitted bids for the Sofia Airport concession, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) said in a press release. Bids are being checked for compliance with the tender requirements, and the technical and financial offers will be opened in a public ceremony on May 9, 2019. All project documents have been published on the project website, www.concession-sof.bg, and are accessible to the public to ensure transparency and legality of the process.

The fact that Morocco and another Asian country bid for the latest generation F-16 Block 70 to renovate their combat air force will speed up the implementation of the plans to start the manufacture of new jet fighters for Bulgaria and the delivery of the first aircraft to be in end-2022, Lockheed Martin reported quoting James Robinson, International Business Development Senior Manager for F-16 at the manufacturing company.