WHO IS THE RECIPIENT OF THE BULGARIAN ARMS SHIPMENT ?

AIM, Skopje, January 17,1994

The Bulgarian press claims that the shipment of arms intended for Albania ended up in Macedonia. The drivers of six Bulgarian vehicles loaded with mortars are on the run. The Bulgarian press reports how Zelev himself became quite excited over this affair. A purge is underway in the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense. It is claimed that this delivery of mortars contained a shipment of snipers, which were used, according to the Bulgarian press which quoted Western sources, by the Serbs in Bosnia to kill Muslims.

In the course of the last few days the Macedonian public has been following with great interest the new arms scandal in which Macedonia too is indirectly mixed up. According to the Bulgarian press, six lorries loaded with mortars and most probably with "Dragunov" sniper shotguns left for Albania. However, according to the reports in Bulgarian newspapers, the shipment was delivered to Macedonia. The papers "Duma" and "Demokratija" claim that the lorries have recently returned empty to Bulgaria while the their drivers were on the run. In other words, the shipment for Tirana ended up somewhere in Macedonia, and at present it is not known where such a large quantity of weapons has been unloaded. The most unusual thing about the whole affair is the fact that the shipment was, upon the personal order of Valentin Aleksandrov, the Bulgarian Minister of Defense, to be transported by sea. Why was the route changed and who ordered the transport of the shipment through Macedonia remain without an answer for the time being. All trace of the weapons is lost, and judging by all, it would seem that the Bulgarian firm "Dunarit" as the supplier, or more precisely, the Ministry of Defense as the warrantor of this transaction with Albania,will get the shorter end of the stick. This arms affair is behind the purge in the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense, and the reason why to date two colonels from this ministry have been sacked, Valentin Popinski, Head of the "Procurement and Trade" Division and his deputy, colonel Stojan Cakov. They are accused of not obeying orders of their superior, the Minister of Defense, and of shipping the weapons through Macedonia instead of by sea. They are also accused of not effecting the payment through bank channels but rather in cash. In addition, the Bulgarian press reports that although there were no other weapons except mortars in the six-lorry convoy, it was assumed than an additional lorry with 1,000 sniper shotguns "Dragun" was added to the convoy. Quoting Western sources, the Bulgarian papers claim that these snipers are now used by the Serbs in Bosnia to kill Muslims. The assumptions that the entire shipment actually ended up in the hands of the Serbs are also based on the same sources. At the moment none of the officials in Macedonia wish to comment this event. The affair only goes to confirm the statement recently given by Mr.Frckovski, Macedonian Minister of Internal Affairs, that Bulgaria was also one the channels through which arms were entered into Macedonia.T.A.