On Thursday Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev signed in Warsaw an agreement with his Polish counterpart Tomasz Siemoniak on the repair of six engines of Russian MiG-29s from this country’s Air Forces. Each repair will cost EUR 1,023,000. Both ministers were optimistic after the signing, as now an EU and NATO member-state will take care of the repair works and not a third country like Russia – the manufacturer of the jet fighters. The parliament is now going to ratify the agreement. However, I must remind here that there had been two other options before the Poland-related decision. The first one was the purchase of NATO jet fighters, new or second-hand. Later on PM Borissov stated it was a matter of unbearable cost that the state couldn’t afford. The second option was for the shared guarding of the Bulgarian air space by our NATO allies, but the idea sounded humiliating to the Bulgarian military personnel and was rejected. Moreover, it could be well-used by the nationalistic formations. Thus the Poland-held repair of the engines decision was reached, as the NATO member still has 32 MiGs in its Air Forces, hence its repairing abilities. The Bulgarian authorities rejected yet in the autumn the possibility for a Russia-held repair, stating it would cost more. Minister Nenchev said that “a country cannot be an EU and NATO member-state, at the same time depending on outside countries”. After the agreement’s signing, the MiG company declared, as expected that the latter contradicted any international law requirements and the common military aviation practice, but also the safety flights principle. The company had earlier warned that such an agreement could result in the ceasing of spare parts’ deliveries for the Polish MiGs, raising the question what the Bulgarian engines would be repaired with, as the contract between Warsaw and Moscow says those parts cannot be used for the repair of third countries’ engines. Hence the question for the warranty of the repair, as it is usually given by the manufacturer, some experts claim. Other observers think that the whole story is the final chord for the old MiG-29s and that there are currently negotiations going on, concerning the first option, mentioned above – the purchase of US F-16 jet fighters, maybe secondhand machines. When it is a question of money - and military aviation costs a lot of money, it is all a matter of commercial interests.