BELGRADE, Feb 9 — The Serbian army today announced a fire sale of military surplus, including a fleet of Soviet-era tanks and thousands of rocket launchers, in order to raise funds for new equipment.
The defence ministry in Belgrade launched the tender to sell 282 T-55 tanks, 68 armoured personnel carriers and 1,283 guns of different types and calibre to raise money “exclusively for development, research and purchase of modern weapons.”
But not any weekend enthusiast hankering to create a garage arsenal overnight will be able to bid for material on the block.
“Companies licensed for arms trade can contact the ministry to obtain information on the status of weapons that are for sale,” the ministry noted in a statement published on its website.
Also listed for sale to arms professionals are 16,780 pistols, 3,500 automatic rifles, 5,200 rocket launchers, more than 115,000 7.6 millimetre and 12.7 millimetre bullets and 120,000 rifle grenades.
The military did not put a value on the weaponry nor say how much it hoped to raise in the auction.
The novel bid to raise funding for upgrading Serbia’s arsenal is the latest in a series of moves to modernise the nation’s army.
The Balkans country abolished compulsory military service in 2011.
The transition to a fully professional army of 30,000 troops ended a long tradition of compulsory service, which was very popular until the 1990s wars that tore the former Yugoslavia apart.
In 2006, Serbia joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) cooperation and security programme, and despite maintaining close ties to Russia, adopted a policy of military neutrality the following year. — AFP
