French ship building firm Armaris, which would construct two Gowind corvettes for Bulgarian navy, applied for the privatisation of Defence Ministry’s Terem - KRZ Naval Arsenal shipyard in Varna, French ambassador to Bulgaria Etienne de Poncins said on July 14.

Bulgarian news agency BTA quoted de Poncins as saying that Armaris wanted to construct a ship-repairing centre at Terem - KRZ Naval Arsenal.

De Poncins also said that the first corvette for the Bulgarian navy would be built in France, but the company planned to build the second one in the shipyard in Varna. Armaris wanted to construct other ships for export in Bulgaria as well, he added.

Terem - KRZ Naval Arsenal in Varna was founded in 1897 at the bank of the Varna lake, some 20km from the city, according to website investor.bg. The shipyard spreads on 617 000 sq m, making and repairing smaller multipurpose and specialised ships.