18.06.2018.

Minister Vulin: As long as Vučić is the President, Republika Srpska will have Serbia’s support

Banja Luka-based Kosmos company will receive RSD 100 million from the Serbian Ministry of Defence

Investing significant efforts in the joint economic cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and Republika Srpska is in line with the recommendations of President Aleksandar Vučić - this is the message of today's meeting of Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin and President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik, in Banja Luka, who then attended the signing of the Agreement on the provision of general overhaul, repair and verification services for missile systems in Kosmos company for overhaul of radar, missile and computer systems.

Minister Vulin said that, as agreed at the meeting between President Vučić and President Dodik, the Republic of Serbia will make significant efforts to strengthen and help the economy of Republic of Srpska.

Here, you can already see the first results. We have worked on the agreement with Kosmos for a long time, but after the meeting of two presidents we speeded up the process and now you can see a concrete result. Kosmos can currently count on RSD 100 million from the Ministry of Defence, and to date, in line with the order of the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces and the agreement with President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, the Ministry of Defence has provided a total of RSD 850 million for various needs of the defence industry companies of Republika Srpska, that is, for overhaul of our tank engines, our aircraft engines, and here, now there is an agreement being signed with Kosmos, minister of defence said.

He pointed out: as long as Aleksandar Vučić is at the helm of the Republic of Serbia, Republika Srpska can fully count on the support of the Republic of Serbia and our economic, political and diplomatic capacities will always be available to Republika Srpska, its leadership and its people.

According to President Dodik, the agreement is an example of the continuity of good cooperation.

- We have a good contract with Pale-based factory, with Orao company and with all those companies. Our mutual intention is to intensify it in the following period, for this part of our industry, which is significantly devastated because of the interventionism of international actors that has led to the complete imbalance in Bosnia and Herzegovina; while the Federation still has six very functional manufacturers of weapons and ammunition, in Republika Srpska, all that has been devastated. We are trying to raise a certain kind of production, not for competitive reasons, but for commercial reasons, and we have support from Serbia’s Defence Ministry for that and from the Minister, who makes significant efforts in this regard, Dodik said.

He expressed gratitude and satisfaction with good cooperation with the Republic of Serbia.

- There is energy that was introduced by the Serbian leadership, headed by President Vučić. Energy and good cooperation are felt continuously, president of Republika Srpska said.

Petar Đokić, Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining of the Republic of Srpska, pointed out that a significant contract was signed and thanked Minister Vulin for his personal contribution to establishing good relations.

- We have started overall cooperation in the sector of the defence industry between several companies from Republika Srpska and the Serbian Ministry of Defence. The development is evident in the fact that there are contracts and plans that have already been concluded with other companies as well. In each of the factories of defence industry in the Republic of Srpska, a certain form of production takes place thanks to the cooperation agreement that has been signed with the Serbian Ministry of Defence. I am very pleased that we have recognised together that this cooperation can be of great importance for the overall economic development of Republika Srpska and Serbia and we will continue to work on it. Strategic cooperation with Serbia is of great importance. The National Assembly has adopted an obligation to develop a strategy for the development of the defence industry of Republika Srpska, and we will work exclusively with the Government of the Republic of Serbia or the Ministry of Defence, and that will be a new line of cooperation that will take place in the future period, Minister Đokić said.

Brigadier General General Željko Ninković, Chief of Logistics Department of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, said that this is the first common task of a larger scale.

- This is a significant contract, because the continuity that we will establish is something that ensures our army to be able to meet its obligations, and it is also significant for Kosmos, because it will significantly engage in its core activity in this way.

Dušan Vještica, Director of Kosmos, emphasized that today's contract is only one in a series and there will be more of them in the future.

- With the opening of this strategic business, which gives a new dimension to the Cosmos overhaul institute, we definitely need new recruitment. When this process is completed and expanded we expect new 40 to 50 employees in the company, only thanks to projects with the Serbian Ministry of Defence, Vještica said.