The Ministry of Defense no longer wants influencers to advertise the military profession

The Ministry of Defense will no longer rely on influencers to promote the military profession. This is understood by the replies from the department after questions from Dnevnik. From there, they did not specify how influential in social networks have turned so far, only one is known for one – Stefan Popov – Chefo.

The reason is that platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Tick Top, which are a communication channel with a wider and especially young audiences, are also the main tool used for Russian misinformation campaigns. And this, in turn, damages the armed forces, including interest in military service, according to there. The shortage of the military remains a serious problem – they are missing over a quarter of both officers and soldiers.

However, the agency reassures that after an increase in salaries, it has been more interested in the profession in the last year.

What is the deficit of military in the Bulgarian army

In addition, the completion of the voluntary reserve – people who do not constantly wear service but are trained and ready to get involved when needed, remains alarmingly low – only 16%. The attempt by the institutions to promote the reserve service does not seem to work, as the tendency of lack of applicants for contracting is maintained.

Since when does the ministry have not asked for influenzers

In mid -March this year. GERB MP and chairman of the Parliamentary Defense Committee Hristo Gadzhev wrote on Facebook that while Todor Tagarev was Minister of Defense in the Denkov – Gabriel cabinet, Yuyuyuber Stefan Popov (Chef) « receives thousands of levs a month from the MoD budget ». Different sites decorated Gadzhev’s words, claiming that the ministry « paid for Euro -Entallral propaganda ».

Chef himself rejected the allegations and presented a contract with the Ministry’s Information Center, according to which he received BGN 10 thousand for a period of 5 months for POccupation of the Bulgarian Army and Occupation Soldier Among the youth. In response to Dnevnik, the Ministry of Defense, now led by Atanas Zapryanov in the cabinet « Zhelyazkov », also denied the claim that he was on a « salary » and indicated what he was receiving for money.

The MoD confirmed that on March 25, 2024 a contract was signed with Stefan Popov with a period until the end of the year.

A total of BGN 6000 was paid on it for:

In June 2024, another contract was concluded with the company « SVP 93 » EOOD, whose manager was Stefan Popov (Chefo) with a period of December 15, 2024.

A total of BGN 4100 for the following were paid under this contract:

Both contracts have expired and have not been renewed. The department also says that the former management of the information center is assisted in finding interlocutorsS And they were not agreed with the Ministry of Defense.

From there, they add that they consider this new approach the most resistant given the dynamic public environment and in view of the search for a long-term strategic effect.

How to measure effectiveness on social networks

The Facebook content created by the MoD Information Center was reviewed nearly 3.3 million times in 3 months (in the period September – December 2024), with publications reaching 720 thousand unique users. This is said by the MoD in the response to Dnevnik how to measure the effectiveness of campaigns on social networks. From there, they add that the followers became more and more involved in the content, their interactions increased by over 30% in the last quarter of 2024, and the time they spend to review audio-visual products.

Between September-December 2024, the profile of the Tik Top Top Information Center increased its number of followers by 70 percent. At the date of publication of this article, they are over 6,000. The ministry increase is also reported in the scope of publications. They have over 1.65 million views, which is over 100% increase over the previous quarter. Consumer engagement reported at the end of the year is 140% higher than before. The department states that they have not paid for sponsored publications to reach more users.

What campaigns are underway

In recent years, two main campaigns to recruit military personnel – « Be Soldier » and « Join the Bulgarian Army. Give your skills a higher goal. » Outside them, campaigns are organized annually to attract staff, as well as information initiatives for education in higher military schools. Open days are held, meetings with students, and videos in the media and social networks are being distributed.

Is there any interest

« There has been an increased interest in the military profession for months, » the Ministry of Defense said. The number of candidates for military personnel, as well as for cadets, is increasing.

However, the agency sets an example with the initiative « Join the Bulgarian Army. Give your skills a higher goal ». Referring to their data from the MoD, they reported that in the course of the campaign, interest in the military profession increased many times from 4 November 2024 to February 2, 2025. During this time, audio-visual content was distributed on national television, radio and social networks, as well as outdoor advertising in a number of cities.

Data from the Central Military District of the Ministry show that during this period, with 337 vacant soldiers in the Land Forces, 752 candidates were submitted to the Land Forces. In the event of 117 positions in the Air Force, 502 candidates were submitted.

« Since the increase in salaries since the beginning of 2025, interest in the ads for military has increased sharply as the number of those who want are constantly increasing, » the MoD said.