Ministry of defence Republic of Serbia
 
19.03.2010.

Interview with Minister Sutanovac for B92.biz



ARMY OBTAINS FLATS, AIRPORTS FOR THE CITIZENS

“This year, the Army of Serbia is to face the professionalization, solving housing issues of its members, a large export of defence industry products, and adaptation of some military airports to the civilian needs”, Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac said for B92.biz....

Ministry of Defence has ceded “Stepa Stepanovi?” barracks in Belgrade for the construction of residential buildings in exchange for 21 percent of the built residential and office space in that area. The manager of the project is the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning.

“Objectively, this will be a very serious result in solving the housing problems of current and former members of the Serbian Armed Forces. The idea is that the Ministry of Defence, in consultation with the Building Directorate of Serbia, obtains a certain number of flats not only in Belgrade at that location, but also in several cities in Serbia in the corresponding value”, Dragan Sutanovac, the Minister of Defence in the Government of the Republic of Serbia said in an interview for B92.biz.

He explained that “with a programme of residential real-estate building construction and a programme of interest-free loans for pensioners, we can say that this year will be one of the most successful in terms of solving the housing problems of current and former members of the SAF. It has been the third year that we have been achieving greater allocation of flats in relation to the inflow of personnel thus solving the inherited problems.

What will happen to the buildings that are not needed for the Armed Forces, especially after the professionalisation and downsizing of the number of soldiers in those facilities? What is happening at the moment with the buildings of the former General Staff in Belgrade? What is their expected fate?
The idea is that after the assessment is done for the non-perspective military real estate, and in collaboration with the Directorate for Property and Tax Administration we begin the talks primarily with local governments on the exchange of property for flats or money. The assumption is that certain military assets that exist in poor municipalities in Serbia will have no market value because there are no buyers.

As for the destroyed General Staff building in Kneza Miloša Street, I have to say that bigger problem for me is the everyday costs, because the Ministry is located on a large number of locations.

It is our wish that the Ministry of Defence obtains its own building where the General Staff would be also located as its integral part, and that the building be built on the site which belongs to the military, at Banjica near MMA, without additional funds. To make the long story short, the building in Kneza Miloša Street, after the evaluation by the Tax Administration, would be exchanged for a new building, adequate to the needs of the Ministry of Defence.

Are there any interested parties?
There were no specific talks, but that job would certainly be led by Directorate for Property. Last year was not a good time to sell the property, due to the economic crisis. It is a very big and serious project that would employ our building operations sector, because it would cover over 150 thousand square meters, which would be built and furnished at the same time.

Conversion of military airfields in Serbia, such as Ladjevci and Ponikve, to civilian airports, has been mentioned a lot in the public lately. What is the position of the Ministry of Defence on this issue? For Ponikve airfield an agreement has already been signed with the local authorities. Also, Batajnica airport has been mentioned in the context of its possible future civilian use. Is there a place for such an initiative?
Ponikve airport is the project of the local authorities, and Ladjevci and Batajnica are under the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence. At this point, the priority is Ladjevci airfield – in geo-strategic and economic terms. We believe that an airport would allow this part of Serbia to obtain much faster communication with the world than it has today and that it would have adequate usability.

A large number of people from these parts are travelling abroad, and in this region there are almost all tourist centres that are drawing attention even abroad. Regarding that project, we are consulting the Ministry for National Investment Plan, the Belgrade Airport, the Civil Aviation Directorate and the Directorate for Flight Control. I expect that in the second half of this year Ladjevci will finally get permission for the civilian use.

As for Batajnica, this airport is well positioned because of the proximity of Belgrade and Novi Sad, it has a better wind rose than the Nikola Tesla Airport. But this project requires a very serious support and investment, as it is our desire for Batajnica to be a respectable international airport.

The idea is that the funds the airports receive are primarily used for their support, but also a part of the funds to be directed to the budget of our military aviation.

It has been announced for spring the promotion of “Sparrow”, the first domestic mini-unmanned aircraft system. How these and similar projects regain the reputation and attract attention of foreign buyers to the Serbian defence industry?
Last year we made really great progress in exporting the products of our defence industry. After many years we have appeared on the market of aircraft with “Lasta” (swallow), which already has a buyer.

Regarding the projects that exist in the Military Technical Institute, I insisted on continuing and finishing the project of tactical unmanned aircraft as soon as possible. It was necessary for several reasons. Two years ago, we started purchasing many such aircraft. We realised that it was a pity that the money goes from our country abroad, because we have the knowledge and the project which has been brought almost to the end.

I think that the quality of that aircraft will not be any lower than the quality of those we have already bought. There has already been great interest expressed, although it has not officially entered into service in SAF, and it still can be used for a variety of civilian needs.

You stated that the Serbian defence industry exported military equipment worth three hundred million dollars last year, and that this year some new large contracts might be signed. How do you plan to achieve this? What are the key segments and markets for our defence industry?
Our defence industry is back on the market due to its quality and prices, but also the political support. The largest market is currently Iraq. I believe that Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Kuwait, and the countries of South America are also the destinations where we can have a good marketing of our defence industry products.

The Ministry of Economy and Regional Development has been currently implementing a project of rehabilitation and restructuring of certain factories, through an adequate social programme to relieve them of the excess workers. I believe that when that is completed the factories will be able to sustain themselves.

It is important to say that although the factories have large exports they still have the inherited problems. Some factories do not pay all the contributions, but these days the problem is also to be solved. The future prospects of the defence industry can be very promising and it can provide significant funds for our country.

How is the cooperation with Iraq progressing? There were some hints in the media that it could be a significant future market for Serbian products.
The Agreement with Iraq is being implemented according to the plan. We expect military economic cooperation to be continued after the local elections. As for the Defence Ministry itself, that cooperation is developing at the level of the two militaries. In the previous period, had officers and NCOs from the countries of that region studying in Serbia. The main liaison for the bilateral cooperation is the officers who have completed our military schools, and who are nowadays a sort of ambassadors for both our defence ministry and the army, and our economy.

How much money is necessary to invest in modernizing the installations of these factories? It is not only a question of improving production, but also the basic safety of employees. Let us remember the accident in the “First Partizan”. What has been done for such things not to happen any more?
I think that everybody is surprised how the defence industry has recovered and achieved fantastic results, considering the fact that the government did not help to the extent it could. I have already mentioned that an important part of the assistance is the social programme itself.

We have been talking with the “First Partizan” from Užice about the relocation of large parts of the production facilities of that factory to the site that is owned by the Ministry of Defence. This is very important from the aspect of security, which is in the first place, but also the costs – the space which the factory covers requires a larger amount of energy supply in winter and summer.

What is the cooperation with companies of the defence industry in the former Yugoslav countries like?
The projects that involve activities such as the one we once had with an official production of tanks should have a much larger political agreement and political understanding.

You have announced professionalization of the military as of January 2011. How many professional soldiers should be recruited by then? How is this process getting on?
Something that looked like a marketing ploy sparking massive comments of distrust by blogs has become a reality today. My deep belief is that next year at this time, I will be able to say that SAF is completely professional.

The defence system will have 36 thousand members, and two thousand of those who will be in training. According to the standard, out of this number 12,600 will be soldiers; the rest will be officers, NCOs. There will be 30,000 members of military personnel in the Armed Forces.

According to the estimates by the Ministry, what would be the cost of maintaining professional soldiers, and how much is that compared to the costs of the current model?
All project work within the budget that we received for the army what we have currently. Thanks to the host, very precise and prudent use of resources, managed to lead the process of professionalization. But, I must mention that we are far from modernization. Dozens of years of no investment in equipment, and reform can not be implemented without modernization.

We are now in such a position that whatever we do with the reform, professionalize the forces, organise it in the most modern way, provide the best training, if we do not start the procurement of modern weapons and military technique, we will certainly have a problem that we cannot overcome only with the high-quality staff.

This year Serbia has allocated for the military 68 billion dinars. Less than 20 percent of this sum has been envisaged for the equipment, investments and infrastructure. Will it be enough to cover military expenses?

Ministry of Defence received 68 billion dinars from the budget, and we expect about two billions dinars from our own revenues. Out of that sum, 23 billion dinars goes for pensions, 30 on personnel costs, and the rest is envisaged for current expenses, equipment and modernization. This budget does not allow the purchase of modern weapons of strategic type.

We will continue to equip the forces with new infantry weapons and equipment necessary for their functioning. However, procurement of modern aircraft, armoured vehicles ... cannot be done with such small resources.

Last year the “South” military base was opened. How much did its construction cost so far and how much will be its total cost for the state. Also, what are the security, and also the economic justifications of its existence?
Total costs were about 17 billion dinars. It was being built about six years, most of it being done in the last two years. The base is very important from the aspect of security of that part of Serbia.

On the other hand, it should be a new economic contribution for the local population by SAF. We believe it is good to build a military base in areas with the low level of economic development.

Late last year we witnessed the dust that was raised in the public by the Report of the State Audit Commission. What do the audit reports and controls show regarding the spending of funds in the Ministry of Defence?

In addition to the State Audit control, we had two more controls in the Ministry, and none showed irregularities in the work, which indicates that we manage our finances professionally.

You have recently reiterated that the military health care service is one of the important elements of functioning of the Serbian Armed Forces. MMA services, but also other military medical facilities, may be used also by the civilians, and MMA has recently started with education of future medical officers. According to you, what is the importance of the military health care service?
The Ministry of Defence has been currently engaged in four peacekeeping missions, majority of members being from the military health care service, and there is a great interest from several countries participating in peacekeeping missions in our experts to be engaged with their teams.

In the past two years, we have invested a lot of funds in equipping military medical centres, and since last year we have 20 students in the MMA to become medical officers after they complete their studies.

I think that SAF should build up its brands and that a medical officer in the future can be a SAF brand worldwide. Certainly, our MMA is a brand recognised in the world already.
 
MOD
Ministry of defence Republic of Serbia, Bircaninova 5 street, Belgrade
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