Russia and Serbia agree on military cooperation
Russia and Serbia have agreed on close cooperation in the military sphere. Countries plan to prepare joint programs in the defense industry and are even considering the possibility of entering third markets. According to experts, cooperation with Serbia will allow Russia to strengthen its position in the Balkans.The agreement on cooperation between the countries has been reached at several levels, said Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Alexander Vucic, who is on a visit to Russia these days. “Our defense industry is most important for us and what we can offer to Russian partners, as well as what we can produce together, as well as the possibility of entering together to some third markets,” said Vucic in an interview with the Belgrade television station B92.
“For us, our defense industry is most important and what we can offer our Russian partners”
According to the Serbian minister, the preparation of plans for these three segments of cooperation will begin on Monday and it is necessary to start implementing them as soon as possible, RIA reports.News».
The visit of the Serbian Defense Minister to Russia is taking place on August 21 – 23. Alexander Vucic held talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the military-industrial complex.
“Since Serbia will not join any military bloc, which is stipulated by the parliament’s declaration, we talked about all other aspects of cooperation at the level of ministries of defense, because previously this cooperation was at a very low level. We expect that in the near future it will be brought to a much higher level, ”said Vucic.
Alexander Vucic became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense in the new government of Serbia, established in July of this year. Prior to that, he was one of the leaders of the Serbian Progressive Party, around which the ruling coalition is now formed in parliament.
Vučić held the post of general secretary of the Serbian Radical Party for 10 years. In 1998, he served as Minister of Information in the government of Mirko Maryanovich.
Before the collapse, Yugoslavia was one of the largest exporters. weapons, but the NATO bombing of 1999 caused damage to many Serbian weapons factories. However, the military industry of Belgrade still managed to recover. Now Serbia is returning to the world MIC market. In 2009 – 2010, the country's military industry exported products to 250 million euros.
The current world crisis, as well as political upheavals in North Africa, interrupted exports under certain contracts of the military-industrial complex and curbed the appetite of all, including Serbian arms manufacturers. According to Western experts, a contract worth 200 million euros for Serbia could be considered a success.
At the seven factories of the Serbian defense industry, about 9 thousand people are currently employed. The Serbian military-industrial complex consists of six companies with the prevailing state capital: Zastava oružje, Krušik, Sloboda, Milan Blagojević, Prvi partizan and Prva iskra. They mainly produce gunpowder, ammunition of various calibers and light weapons. Serbian enterprises are exporting upgraded versions of training aircraft, fire control systems and anti-tank missile systems.
“Now the main export product of Serbia is Lasta training aircraft. Serbia has already received an order to supply 20 of such aircraft from Iraq, ”said Vladimir Shvarev, deputy director of the Center for Analysis of the World Arms Trade, told VZGLYAD.
As for joint development with Russia, then most likely this will concern armored vehicles, the expert said. “Russia and Serbia already had a project to promote military tanks to the markets of third countries. Therefore, I think that countries will revive this project and other projects in the field of armored vehicles. In addition, Russia and Serbia can develop cooperation in the field of a number of land weapons, creating self-propelled guns. Cooperation between the two countries on small arms is also possible, ”said Vladimir Shvarev.
“It’s too early to speak about the volumes of supplies from Russia and Serbia, but in monetary terms they are unlikely to be large. For example, the cost of a Lasta aircraft does not exceed 10 million dollars. And systems for ground forces are a relatively inexpensive product compared to airplanes, ”said the expert.
Cooperation with Serbia will be mutually beneficial from the point of view of strengthening Russia's position on the armament market, said Investkafe analyst Andrei Schenk. “It is not yet known in which segment of the military-industrial complex there will be cooperation, but most likely the sales markets will be traditional for Russia - these are countries of the Asian region (India, China, Vietnam, Venezuela and Algeria). Cooperation with Serbia will also allow strengthening positions in the Balkans, which is strategically important for Russia. According to my estimates, the turnover of the military industrial complex can amount to a billion dollars a year for the first time, ”Andrei Schenk believes.
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