23.09.2015.

A visit to the Aeronautical Museum

Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic and Acting Director General of the airport "Nikola Tesla" Sasa Vlaisavljevic with associates visited today the Aeronautical Museum in Belgrade, which will be headed as of today, after the dismissal of the previous director, by Miroslav Knezevic, by the decision of the Serbian Government.

Minister Gasic pointed out that from today, the Museum would function as a part of the Ministry of Defence, noting that in the past a part of the museum had been "excluded and treated as a private company in which individuals were doing what they wanted with the historical build and museum exhibits." He pointed out that since May this year, when the Serbian Government adopted a decision on the dismissal of the acting director Zoran Radojevic, there had never been a chance to deliver the decision to him, given that he had avoided it in all possible ways.

- We expect that relevant investigating authorities will find all the irregularities that were carried out in the past at the Museum of the Air Force of Serbia and Belgrade Aeronautical Museum as soon as tomorrow, Minister Gasic said and added that there were indications that some museum exhibits had been sold, but that it was unknown where the money from the sale had ended.

He said that the key task of the Ministry of Defence was that within six months and no later than a year, the Museum is brought to the state that the Serbian capital deserves, adding that its depots contains exhibits that cannot be found in most European countries.

Responding to journalists’ questions, Minister Gasic pointed out that the appointment of the directors complied with all regulations, pointing out that the founders of the Museum, in addition to the Ministry, are companies owned by the state of the Republic of Serbia.

Yesterday, after four unsuccessful attempts, the Ministry of Defence in the presence of representatives of the Ministry of Interior and the Board of the Museum took over the management of that institution and thus acted in accordance with the above conclusion. The main intention of the Ministry of Defence is that the business of the Museum is brought within the legal framework and requirements for responsible management, economic and legal liability shall apply to this museum as well as to any other government authority.

Previous director Zoran Radojevic obstructed the proceedings of the office takeover by the new administrative management bodies and prevented their legitimate work. Business of the Museum was largely illegal – procurements were carried out contrary to the Law on public procurement, business decisions were made without the consent of the Board of Directors, hiring and firing staff was not in accordance with staffing systematization, salary and benefits system was carried out by unknown regulations. The material and financial operations in terms of museum objects was not kept in accordance with the laws and regulations in this field, and there was no control over operations, since the institution operated as a private entity.

The museum preserves national aviation heritage, whose value is estimated at tens of millions of dollars and ranks among the 5 leading aviation museums in the world with a reference of 22 original types of aircraft from World War II and has the necessary resources for the development of museum activities and infrastructure development modelled after similar military museums in the world.

The majority investor-founder is the Ministry of Defence, with 70 per cent of invested funds, while more than 90 percent of the museum collection consists of items from the category of weapons and military equipment that are state-owned.

When it comes to reports in some media that 18 sets of batteries for the MiGs had been found, the Minister said that the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces had taken all necessary measures and that the disciplinary inquest was underway, and that the details would be available upon the completion of the entire proceedings. He stressed that the Ministry of Defence in the past had initiated a process that includes a listing of military property, noting that the process had so far found that 54 studios in Belgrade were used by unauthorized persons.

- We discovered more than 100 apartments that individuals used unlawfully, while not even being members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces - Minister Gasic said, noting that the authorities will examine all the irregularities.

When it comes to the procurement of two new helicopters and equipment for modernization, he said that the precontract had been signed and that advance payment had been made, so that the delivery of the helicopters can be expected by the end of the year. He noted that in parallel to this, negotiations were being conducted with Airbus to employ capacities of the Repair Institute "Moma Stanojlovic".