Vazovski Mashinostroitelni Zavodi (VMZ) EAD (, ВМЗ ЕАД) is the largest
armaments factory in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
, which is located in
Sopot, Plovdiv Province
Sopot ( bg, Сопот ) is a Bulgarian town situated in the fertile sub-Balkan mountain valley of Karlovo (which is the western part of the famous Rose Valley, Bulgaria, Rose Valley), immediately below the steep southern slopes of the Troyan ...
. It is the only weapons factory still owned by the
government of Bulgaria
The Council of Ministers ( bg, Министерски съвет, ''Ministerski savet'') is the main authority of the executive power in the Republic of Bulgaria. It consists of the Prime Minister of Bulgaria and all the specialized ministers ...
.
History
The first stone in its foundation was laid on 9 June 1936, and on 12 July 1940 an inaugural ceremony to open the state military factory was held. Production commenced with
hand grenades
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade gener ...
, 22 mm HE rounds, 122 mm
howitzer
A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...
rounds,
fuze
In military munitions, a fuze (sometimes fuse) is the part of the device that initiates function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fuze ...
s, 75 mm rounds and 105 mm projectiles for
Krupp gun
The Krupp gun is a family of artillery pieces that was used by several world armies from the nineteenth century onwards.
History
In 1811, Friedrich Krupp founded his cast-steel factory ''Gusstahlfabrik'', but it was his son, Alfred Krupp, who att ...
.
Recent years
In recent years and nowadays, the company passed through different stages of its development. Various activities and divisions were started. New production facilities were opened. In 1977 the company was registered as VMZ Ltd., in 1999 – as VMZ Co.
Due to the intellectual potential of its engineering staff and high qualification of its executive personnel, a wide assortment of defence and civil items has been manufactured during the years of its existence.
VMZ Co. traditionally takes part in various events in the country and abroad where it exhibits its latest defence and civil items.
It is a regular participant at the
Plovdiv International Fair and Hemus Defence Exhibition.
VMZ Co. has its own place in the Bulgarian history as the first and only enterprise decorated with the highest
state orders of the Republic of Bulgaria.
In 2016, ''
Balkan Insight
Balkan Insight is a website of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) that focuses on news, analysis, commentary and investigative reporting from southeast Europe. It is run by journalists in southeast Europe. BIRN was founded in 2004 ...
'' reported that VMZ-made weapons and ones from other Balkan countries were supplied to groups of the
Syrian opposition
The Syrian opposition ( ar, المعارضة السورية ', ) is the political structure represented by the Syrian National Coalition and associated Syrian anti-Assad groups with certain territorial control as an alternative Syrian gover ...
by the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and that some later ended up in the arms of radical groups such as
ISIL
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
and others. The Bulgarian government insisted that it was not responsible for the latter.
See also
*
Military of Bulgaria
The Bulgarian Army ( bg, Българска армия, Bŭlgarska armiya) is the military of Bulgaria. The commander-in-chief is the president of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for political leadership, while overall military ...
*
Defense Industry of Bulgaria
Bulgaria is a NATO member country with a large indigenous defence industry. Most of its weaponry is of Soviet design, but with significantly improved performance. Bulgaria is ranked as a "medium" small arms exporter according to the Small Arms Surv ...
References
External links
Official website
Defence companies of Bulgaria
Manufacturing companies of Bulgaria
Weapons manufacturing companies
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