Serbia is increasing sales of ammunition to the West, which then end up in Ukraine. We are talking about projectiles worth about €800 million.
The Financial Times writes about it.
President Aleksandar Vučić gave the exact amount deducted to the FT in general and presented the situation as a business opportunity, insisting he did not align himself with either side of the conflict. This amount was collected from 2022.
"This is part of our economic revival, it is important for us. Yes, we export our ammunition. We cannot export to Ukraine or Russia... but we had many contracts with Americans, Spaniards, Czechs and others," the president said.
And he added that even if he knows where the projectiles will end up, it is none of his business.
Serbia has leftover arms manufacturing capacity from the days when it was part of Yugoslavia. Currently, the country produces shells according to Soviet standards, which are used, in particular, by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Aleksandar Vučić emphasized that Serbian weapons are cheaper than Western ones, so the volume of ammunition exports from Serbia may increase.
Serbia is not a member of NATO or the EU. The country does not support Western sanctions against Russia, treating it favorably and expecting that Moscow will block the international recognition of Kosovo. Kosovo is a partially recognized state inhabited by Albanians. Previously, Kosovo was an autonomous region within Serbia, but in 1991 the region declared independence and held a referendum. The country has been recognized by almost 100 countries of the world. Serbia does not recognize the independence of Kosovo.
Impact on Serbia
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is trying to resist Western pressure to join the sanctions against Russia.
"Europe and the US have been working for years to distance Vučić from Putin," a Western diplomat told the Financial Times.
One of those who did this was the American ambassador in Belgrade, Christopher Gill, who arrived in the Serbian capital a month after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"He succeeded. Vučić has not met Putin or even called him in [recent] years. And, of course, there is the issue of arms supplies that end up in Ukraine," the diplomat added.