Ministry of defence Republic of Serbia
 
05.10.2015.

Minister Gasic visits Kragujevac




Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic visited today the defence industry factory "Zastava Arms" in Kragujevac. After the meeting with the leadership of the company, Minister visited the production capacities of the factory.

That the Serbian defence industry can be the momentum of re-industrialization of Serbia, according to Minister Gasic, has been repeatedly reiterated and proven to be true. At the meeting with the Assistant Secretary of Defence for Material Resources Dr. Nenad Miloradovic, Director of the factory Milojko Brzakovic and Supervisory Board members, it was concluded that this year Serbia had shown remarkable results in trade and export of arms and military equipment.

- For the first time we, after 15 years, we will have twice the exports compared to the previous year, namely 750 million dollars. "Zastava Arms" in relation to the period up to 2012 for the first time shows a gain of nearly 329 million dinars. We expect that the gain by the end of the year is 400 million – Defence Minister said and recalled that the 2011 loss was a billion and a half, and in 2012, 857 million dinars.

In "Zastava Arms" average salary is 49,927 dinars per employee, and the factory increases the number of employees, that is, it seeks to employ as many young engineers, according to Gasic.

- Today we have agreed on how much still needs to be invested, with the assistance of the Government of Serbia, so that "Zastava Arms" can have an even bigger and better production, and we came to a figure of 4 million euros. Four years ago, the factory had 70 million dollars in exports from the production of the defence industry, just from the sale of commodity surpluses of the Serbian Armed Forces, equipment and arms. It is worth noting that, in the previous four months, the factory has addressed significant deficiencies, improved the quality and working conditions in certain facilities, and quality control, which in the previous period was worse - Minister said.

Commenting on the protests and demands of the trade unions, Minister said that "workers should begin to work, not only to talk and ask questions that are not based on the results of the work, but to work."

- We respect the unions and with them we need to talk primarily about the survival of the factory - Minister Gasic said.

When asked whether the cause of the explosion in the factory "Milan Blagojevic" in Lucani had been determined, and whether someone would be held accountable, Defence Minister answered affirmatively and said that the Committee of the Ministry of Defence, the Prosecutor's Office and the Police were doing their job in order to precisely determine everything.

Director Milojko Brzakovic confirmed that the factory operated much better, thanked for the support of the Serbian Government and the Ministry of Defence and pointed out that "Zastava Arms" needed funding to raise to a higher level the technical and technological level of the plant, reduce production costs and increase productivity in order to be competitive in the world market.

"Zastava Arms" timely meets all obligations to the state, and this year it will be close to 4 billion dinars turnover. Until now, "Zastava Arms" has 102 million dollars in signed contracts – it has complied with the 55 billion in the first six months, and also has provided jobs for 2016.

Defence Minister also visited today the Technical Overhaul Institute in Kragujevac, where he held a meeting with the management of the Institute and attended the tactical technological meeting.

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