06.09.2018.

Minister Vulin: The armed forces take care of Priboj through investment

- Since 2012, when Aleksandar Vučić became minister of defence until the present, more than 900 million dinars have been invested in the FAP, with more than 400 million being invested solely in the previous year. The FAP is a strategic company, and Priboj is a strategic place in Serbia. Today, we have got the zero series of truck 6х6 2228, which is rather modern truck and our military needs it - said Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin during today’s visit to the “FAP Corporation” joint-stock company in Priboj where he attended the handover of the newly manufactured vehicles for the requirements of the Serbian Armed Forces.

He added that contracts worth additional 100 million dinars were signed on that day for the production of zero series of trucks FAP 3240 with 8х8 wheel drive, which is an asset that the greatest militaries of the world could boast of and he reminded that each investment in the Serbian Armed Forces in the investment in development of all our regions and every citizen.

If FAP works well, and it works well for our armed forces, the town of Priboj will live well too. Much like the FAP is a strategic enterprise, Priboj is a strategic place which must not be neglected and which people must not leave - said Minister Vulin and added that the people would stay in Priboj only if the state incessantly invested in the possibility that the people of Priboj have work and that they and their children have future. He pointed out that every investment in the armed forces eventually proved itself to be an investment in the everyday life of each of us.

- The technology mastered by the FAP, owing to its cooperation with the armed forces, is a technology which can be used for numerous commercial dealings which will make the life of the citizens better and they will earn more. The Serbian Armed Forces will always firstly purchase from national manufacturers and we will always support development of national industry because only that can be multiply beneficial.

Director-General of FAP Ranko Vuković emphasised that he was pleased for having the opportunity to hand over to the Serbian Armed Forces the trucks which represented the best that the company had ever made.

- This is zero series of the truck FAP 2228, which was produced in the FAP over the last eight months. It is a vehicle that is very important for the Serbian Armed Forces and for us here, since we have shown, after all those problems which the FAP encountered, that we can still make a good truck - Vuković said, thanking the Government of Serbia and President Aleksandar Vučić who supported the FAP programme through Pre-pack reorganisation plan.

He reminded that a new contract was signed on that day for a zero series of FAP trucks 3240 worth 100 million dinars, and a contract with “Prva Petoletka” for modernisation of Serbian Armed Forces systems. He explained that all that would create conditions for commercial production and exports as well. The Mayor of Priboj, Lazar Rvović expressed his satisfaction with the orientation of the state leadership to help Priboj, and FAP in particular, since it was the key economic operator of that municipality and Priboj. Vuković also expressed his belief that all the investments in that municipality were an indicator of a new and more successful Priboj which people would not leave and where they would have a future.

According to Anđelka Atanasković, Director of “Prva Petoletka” from Trstenik, today a contract was signed between that factory and FAP for the upgrade of FAP vehicles for the needs of the Serbian Armed Forces in the value of 26 million dinars. She pointed out that the factory, which she is heading, had been faced with certain problems in the previous years, but it managed to stand on its feet once again. She added that it was important to motivate the people to stay and create conditions for their work.

Colonel Željko Ranković from the Logistics Department of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces underlined that the Serbian Armed Forces were grateful for the collaboration with the FAP, which they did not consider just as the supplier of trucks but as a partner, since the company had been participating for years in joint projects with the Military Technical Institute.

- We have already tested more than 130 vehicles of lower load capacity, of up to four tons, in the units and we are quite satisfied. Now the vehicles of higher load capacity of up to seven tons are to arrive, and they are important not only because of their load capacity but because they will be the basis for special superstructure - he said adding that Serbia belonged to countries which wisely procure and develop their own products.

Company “FAP Corporation” from Priboj handed over six trucks “FAP 2228” to the Serbian Armed Forces. These are the trucks of seven-ton load capacity, and 6х6 wheel drive, equipped with accompanying devices in line with the needs of the armed forces, whose fielding is renewing the existing vehicle fleet of the defence system.