Companies with a wartime production task will be able to get copies of technical documents held by the State Reserve and Wartime Stocks Agency. Parliament's economic policy, investment and industry committee approved the changes to the State Reserves and Wartime Stocks Act at second reading.
The meeting began with a minute of silence for the victims of the crashes on the Trakia motorway.
The bill was drafted by the Council of Ministers. The agency's head will decide whether to hand over documents, and can give all the documents requested, part of them, or refuse.
Companies with a production permit under the Law on Weapons, Ammunition, Explosives and Pyrotechnic Articles can apply. They will get documents only for the types of military products covered by their current wartime task. The documents are kept at the Central Technical Base in the village of Sokolovo, which is part of the agency.
Before a decision, the information in the application is cleared with the defence minister, the minister of economy, investment and industry, and the head of the State Agency for National Security. They have 7 days to respond.
The agency's deputy head Rumen Mladenov said applicants for a permit under the weapons law must have technical documents for the product they want a permit for.
MPs rejected a proposal by Hristo Gadzhev and Alexander Ivanov of GERB-SDS, made between the first and second readings. It called for a law to protect copyright and patent rights when the documents are handed over, and for payment to the copyright holder.
MPs also rejected a request by Martin Dimitrov of Democratic Bulgaria to add a new item to the agenda. Under the draft decision he wanted put to a vote, the Council of Ministers would have to adopt a programme of urgent measures to temporarily compensate individuals for fuel prices. Dimitrov proposed compensation of €0.20 for petrol and diesel, paid from tax and profit revenue in the energy sector and from extra VAT collected on fuel.
Alexander Ivanov asked when MPs could question the economy minister. Committee chair Stefan Belchev of Progressive Bulgaria replied that a quick hearing with minister Alexander Pulev should take place next Wednesday.