Serbia's state-owned Jugoimport SDPR defense company has signed a €70 million deal for the export of weapons and military equipment to Iraq, daily Blic reports Friday.
Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac revealed that the deal was agreed during a recent visit to Iraq by a ministry delegation.
“This contract means job for all of [the] six Serbian military industry factories [which] employ around 6,000 people,” the daily quoted Sutanovac as saying.
In late 2007, Jugoimport inked a deal with Iraq on the delivery of over €160 million worth of Serbian defence industry products.
The newly-signed contract is the largest export arrangement that Serbia has concluded this year. The US-led international coalition in Iraq has given Baghdad permission to deal with Serbia.
Blic says that talks are ongoing concerning the expansion of the arrangement and the contracting of Serbian construction companies in renovating several military bases and hospitals in Iraq.
Sutanovac stressed that several other international contracts, involving Serbian construction firms, are expected to be concluded by year's end.
The daily’s ministry source reveals that the new deals may be penned for work in Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Central African states.
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/21891/