27.04.2012.

Visit to "Prvi Partizan" factory in Uzice

Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac and Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Ljubisa Dikovi? with associates visited today production facilities of the "Prvi partizan" factory in Uzice.

At the beginning of the visit the Minister talked with the management of the factory and Director General Dobrosav Andric and with Uzice Mayor Jovan Markovic. After the meeting, the Minister visited the plant for production of pistol and revolver ammunition and laid the foundation stone for the new plant.

On this occasion, the defence minister said that thanks to careful planning and execution of plans, teamwork and promotion of defence industry beyond the borders of our country, we are experiencing a boom that is reflected in the fact that this year the value of exported goods reached 286 million euros, which up to now has been the biggest growth in the history of the Serbian defence industry.

- One of the most important segments of our industry is certainly "Prvi Parizan" in Užice, and the fact that the plant has doubled its production in just four years, that last year it exported USD 41 million, and this year has contracted work worth USD 60 million indicates that the plant has a very important prospects, the minister said, adding that today the foundation stone has been placed both for new jobs and new facilities.

He also stressed that it is important to continue promoting our defence industry because a large percentage of production capacities is exported to the Western market, and this is important from the aspect of Serbia's EU accession, and underlined the importance of negotiations for accession to the European Defence Agency which has funds for research and development of arms and military equipment.

Director General of the "Prvi Partizan" factory expressed his expectation that it will be as soon as in the next year that the team work will move shells and rounds to the new location as well as planned placing of the foundation stone of the new factory for assembling of ammunition in that area in 2013. Expressing his gratitude for the support, Dobrosav Andric also said that the Ministry of Defence is expected to continue with further support for the overall project implementation.

The Uzice Mayor mentioned that the success of the factory in the previous years was the success of the local government, and today's groundbreaking was the realization of a decades-long dream of all employees.