According to The Economist, Serbia is close to signing a US$ 400 million agreement to modernise Kuwaiti tanks and part of the job for Kuwait will probably be carried out by Croatian companies.
The Economist recalled that before the breakup, the former Yugoslavia was a big exporter of weapons, adding that Serbia's military industry had started to recover, recording a 30 per cent annual growth since 2002.
The Economist cited Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac as saying that Serbia hopes to win a $400 million contract to modernise 149 M-84 tanks that Yugoslavia exported to Kuwait in 1991.
The M-84 was assembled in Croatia (in the Djuro Djakovic factory in Slavonski Brod) from components made throughout Yugoslavia. Now those ties are being restored. Serbian, Bosnian and Macedonian arms companies are working together, and a Serbia-Croatia defence agreement signed in June also envisages co-operation, the Economist said.
If Serbia wins the Kuwaiti contract, some of the work will probably be shared between Bosnian, Croatian and Slovene companies, the Economist cited Sutanovac as saying.
