The Ministry of Defense intends to put the remaining six MIG 29 fighter jets under the hammer “until a buyer is found”, announced Minister Vitalie Marinuta at a news conference on Friday, while presenting the MoD’s year-end report. A new auction for the six MIGs will be conducted on December 28. Explaining the reason for the auction, Minister Vitalie Marinuta said the aircraft’s maintenance cost was comparable with the Ministry’s annual budget. Furthermore, they cost $30 million to be fully repaired. Manufactured in 1988, the jets have never left the hangars since 1997 and the current MoD leadership have been looking to sell them and buy MI-8 helicopters instead. The MIGs, estimated at $8.5m, come with an all-or-none clause. The participation fee was set at $3,000 and bidders must also deposit 10% of the start price as security. Moldova inherited 32 Soviet-era MIG aircraft. Last time Moldova sold the jets was in 1997, when the then Defense Minister Valeriu Pasat struck a deal with the US Government. In 2005, Pasat was prosecuted and jailed for making a bad deal, but was eventually acquitted. A new attempt to sell the MIGs occurred this year, on November 30, but it failed as no bids were made.