The Bulgarian Aviation Industry Association (BAIA) and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) came up with a proposal for the establishment of an Independent Expert Group on Bulgarian Unmanned Aviation at the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) to accelerate the development of Unmanned Systems and the implementation of U-Space in Bulgaria. It is addressed to the Minister of Transport Nikolay Sabev by letter 063/10.01.2021 according to the description of the aviation organization. In this regard prof. Dimo Zafirov from the Institute of Space Research and Technology at BAS said:
“We are witnessing the rapid and powerful development of an emerging “high” technology – flying robots. There are thousands of them in the air all over the world, and their fields of application are constantly expanding. All forecasts point to a rapid increase in revenues and to billions of dollars in sales and services. The number of people employed in this high-tech field is also expected to grow rapidly – in the EU alone, we predict it will reach over 100,000 highly specialised professionals in the next few years. The widespread use of flying robots will also provide a significant increase in the quality of life of the population .”
The objectives of the NEG-BBA-MTS include the establishment of a System for the rapid development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Bulgaria and for taking a leading position in the region, as well as ensuring safe flights with UAVs and favorable conditions for the development of business with them.
In the words of prof. Zafirov, despite the fact that Bulgaria is one of the first countries in the world to produce, use and export UAVs, the country is currently significantly behind most countries in the EU and the region. At the same time, the development, production and provision of services with them requires much less investment, which gives Bulgaria a chance to take a leading role in the region in this business, by taking quick and adequate proactive decisions.
According to prof. Due to the fact that the technical solutions allowing the mass production and use of UAVs are relatively recent, the specialists in this field are few and work mainly in private business, universities and scientific organizations. The state and municipal administrations, which have to do a huge amount of work for their legal development and use, lack specialists with the necessary expertise, which hinders and slows down the development of business. He added:
“We propose the establishment of an Independent Expert Group on Bulgarian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (NEG-BUAV-MTS) at the Ministry of Transport and Communications to integrate specialists with the necessary expertise and, together with relevant specialists from state and regional organizations, to expeditiously carry out the necessary activities. The public-private partnership approach through the establishment of expert groups, which is widely used worldwide and in the EU, has proven to be effective and ensures a level playing field for stakeholders .”
Unlike many other European countries, where flight tests of drones and manned aircraft are already being conducted in a controlled safe environment, Bulgaria is still developing a Regulation on the conditions and procedures for the operation of unmanned aerial systems and the supervision of their operators. Until now, the only rules in the country were those approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Since the beginning of 2022, a series of meetings between representatives of the BAIA and the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) have been taking place regarding the renewal of the regulations for the operation of UAS in the domestic airspace. On this occasion Todor Ivandjikov – President of BAIA said:
“BAIA is working with the business and with the DG CAA, as well as with BULATSA, to create the regulations for this new type of aviation and provide a stable environment for business development, because without the right frameworks, any investment is highly risky. We want to make Bulgaria a centre for the development of UAVs (drones and VTOLs). We are organizing an aviation forum for drones and everything related to UAVs in Bulgaria, which is the beginning of a good tradition .”