– Last year, we ended up with 21 million euros of profit, which is the third result in importance since 2012. A good year is behind us – says the director of the public company “Jugoimport – SDPR” Yugoslav Petkovic.
– From 2000 to 2011 we paid the founder 11 million euros of profit, and from 2012 to 2018 45.000 million euros. This means that in seven years Jugoimport paid the state five times more than in 12 years and that is the answer to the question of how we do business – said Petkovic.
Looking at the investments, from 2000 to 2012, Jugoimport invested 5.8 million euros in the production capacities of its subsidiaries, while in the last eight years total investments reached 98 million. The largest amount was invested in the ammunition factory in Uzice, then in the Kovacica Center, Combat Systems, Kapislan, Precision Foundry in Ada, etc.
– At the end of 2011, we employed 660 people and at the end of 2019 1,414 workers. We increased employment only in manufacturing, not in administration. In the Jugoimport itself in the headquarters last year we had 368 people, and in 2013 385. Some examples tell the best of what this is about. The Kovacica Center in Valjevo in 2013 had 88 people, and last year 289. Six years ago, we made the decision whether to shut down or restart the company that caused huge losses. Our decision was to recapitalize. We bought new equipment, hired people and now they make a profit. Also, Combined Complex Systems in Velika Plana today employs about 300 people, and in 2013 that company did not exist. In the meantime, we have built 90 percent of new plants and halls and Serbia is the first to produce large-caliber pipes, which has never worked in its history. We also launched new production programs like “Lazar 3”, “Milos”, “Alexander”, a self-propelled howitzer which is in the final stage of testing, but also the whole family of rockets. We had this great support of the state and all these results we couldn’t have reached without President Vucic’s understanding and support – he says.
He claims that their weapons go to war zones the least. By 2012, Jugoimport was trading with eight countries in the world, and today with 40.
– Our best clients are in the Far East and Africa. We also work with Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA are also a big buyer for us. We also work for Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Algeria… The closest country we export to is Cyprus and we sold “Nore” and “Milos” to them. At a time when the wars in the Middle East were raging and the terrorist organization ISIL was emerging, we were focusing on Africa. Then the whole world was looking to deliver as many weapons as possible where wars were. When the wars stopped, we kept markets in Africa, and the idea is to work with everyone, and the idea is to work with all countries in Africa. The strategy is to retain and improve work with old markets, but also to expand the number of partners – he concludes for Kurir.
