Post by milosobilic on Mar 29, 2010 19:00:49 GMT -5
Serbia celebrates arms industry revival
By Neil MacDonald in Belgrade
Published: March 23 2010 19:12 | Last updated: March 23 2010 19:12
The M-84 was meant to be the great hope of the Yugoslav arms industry.
Exports of the main battle tank – copied from the Soviet T-72, with more engine power – served with Kuwaiti troops in the US-led liberation of their emirate from Iraq in 1991. Belgrade also supplied arms worth nearly $2bn to Iraqi forces fighting Iran in the 1980s.
But the M-84 could not survive the Yugoslav wars. With key components made in Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro, while final assembly happened in Croatia, tank manufacturing fell apart with the failed federation.
Now Serbian arms exports have started thriving again, and there are even hopes of reviving the M-84.
The largest ex-Yugoslav republic expects to export nearly $500m worth of guns, military equipment and security know-how this year, as officials tour the Middle East to revive old trade and defence ties.
Weapons and military clothing, including body armour, now account for nearly 4 per cent of exports, finance ministry officials say.
Mladjan Dinkic, minister of economy, says: “The military industry is . . . doing well in the crisis and even increasing,” .
Companies such as Zastava Arms, which makes guns, and Utva Aircraft, which makes training aircraft, are increasing production, and Yugoimport-SDPR, the centralised trading group for six main state-owned defence manufacturers, has started securing deals comparable to those in the late 1980s, before war and sanctions devastated the industry.
Dragan Sutanovac, defence minister, says “In 2009, we approached the same level [of sales] as we achieved in 1989 as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was three times bigger [than Serbia].
“We think that is a great success, but it is not our final goal.”
Serbia’s best sales prospects are seen among the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement, where it was once a leading force.
Some of the assortment of states that sought a middle way in the cold war used to buy Serbian arms and could do so again if the price is right.
Mr Sutanovac says: “It’s about tradition and good quality, at a good price”.
Iraq in particular has proved a lucrative market, taking more than a third of 2009’s exports. On visits to Baghdad then, Mr Sutanovac signed export contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, including an order for 20 Serbian-made training aircraft for the Iraqi air force.
To revive old ties, Belgrade’s military academy has started training Iraqi officers and medics. Officials have also talked about replacing Iraq’s “lost squadron” of MiG jet fighters – left for repairs in pre-war Yugoslavia, and then mothballed amid the break-up.
Stevan Nikcevic, Yugoimport director-general, says: “A lot of Iraqi officers and technicians are familiar with our systems,”.
Shared interests go beyond defence. About 60,000 Yugoslavs erected roads, bridges and power lines in the oil state before Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
Mr Sutanovac says: “My father worked there in the mid-1980s as a construction worker”.
The two countries have also had some shared experiences since the cold war. Serbia, like Iraq, spent most of the 1990s under sanctions and plunged into armed conflict with the west.
Half the defence ministry in Belgrade remains blackened from Nato missiles in 1999.
The defence minister’s last delegation to Baghdad therefore included arms traders, electrical engineers and a Serbian businessman with concerns from brass bullet casings to bakeries.
Iraqi officials talked about reconstruction jobs in all sectors worth $70bn after US forces withdraw.
Mr Sutanovac says: “We’re convinced part of that cake can go to our companies”.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dabe6fac-36ab-11df-b810-00144feabdc0.html
By Neil MacDonald in Belgrade
Published: March 23 2010 19:12 | Last updated: March 23 2010 19:12
The M-84 was meant to be the great hope of the Yugoslav arms industry.
Exports of the main battle tank – copied from the Soviet T-72, with more engine power – served with Kuwaiti troops in the US-led liberation of their emirate from Iraq in 1991. Belgrade also supplied arms worth nearly $2bn to Iraqi forces fighting Iran in the 1980s.
But the M-84 could not survive the Yugoslav wars. With key components made in Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro, while final assembly happened in Croatia, tank manufacturing fell apart with the failed federation.
Now Serbian arms exports have started thriving again, and there are even hopes of reviving the M-84.
The largest ex-Yugoslav republic expects to export nearly $500m worth of guns, military equipment and security know-how this year, as officials tour the Middle East to revive old trade and defence ties.
Weapons and military clothing, including body armour, now account for nearly 4 per cent of exports, finance ministry officials say.
Mladjan Dinkic, minister of economy, says: “The military industry is . . . doing well in the crisis and even increasing,” .
Companies such as Zastava Arms, which makes guns, and Utva Aircraft, which makes training aircraft, are increasing production, and Yugoimport-SDPR, the centralised trading group for six main state-owned defence manufacturers, has started securing deals comparable to those in the late 1980s, before war and sanctions devastated the industry.
Dragan Sutanovac, defence minister, says “In 2009, we approached the same level [of sales] as we achieved in 1989 as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was three times bigger [than Serbia].
“We think that is a great success, but it is not our final goal.”
Serbia’s best sales prospects are seen among the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement, where it was once a leading force.
Some of the assortment of states that sought a middle way in the cold war used to buy Serbian arms and could do so again if the price is right.
Mr Sutanovac says: “It’s about tradition and good quality, at a good price”.
Iraq in particular has proved a lucrative market, taking more than a third of 2009’s exports. On visits to Baghdad then, Mr Sutanovac signed export contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, including an order for 20 Serbian-made training aircraft for the Iraqi air force.
To revive old ties, Belgrade’s military academy has started training Iraqi officers and medics. Officials have also talked about replacing Iraq’s “lost squadron” of MiG jet fighters – left for repairs in pre-war Yugoslavia, and then mothballed amid the break-up.
Stevan Nikcevic, Yugoimport director-general, says: “A lot of Iraqi officers and technicians are familiar with our systems,”.
Shared interests go beyond defence. About 60,000 Yugoslavs erected roads, bridges and power lines in the oil state before Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
Mr Sutanovac says: “My father worked there in the mid-1980s as a construction worker”.
The two countries have also had some shared experiences since the cold war. Serbia, like Iraq, spent most of the 1990s under sanctions and plunged into armed conflict with the west.
Half the defence ministry in Belgrade remains blackened from Nato missiles in 1999.
The defence minister’s last delegation to Baghdad therefore included arms traders, electrical engineers and a Serbian businessman with concerns from brass bullet casings to bakeries.
Iraqi officials talked about reconstruction jobs in all sectors worth $70bn after US forces withdraw.
Mr Sutanovac says: “We’re convinced part of that cake can go to our companies”.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dabe6fac-36ab-11df-b810-00144feabdc0.html
