Serbia spent millions of dollars on Chinese fears purchase

The Balkan Radio Free Europe Service, inspecting the database for imports from China in 2020, has reached information that Serbia, that year, has imported fears from China worth $19.3m.

The price at which Serbia bought combat-discovering drones from China has been kept secret since July 2020, when the drones have first appeared at Batajnica Military Airport in Belgrade.

The answer to Radio Free Europe's question about how much the six BH-92A fears cost, has not wanted to issue even Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, who has been present at the fatigue presentation.

When we procurement goods with another country as far as the army is concerned, [the price] is kept secret. This is common and has nothing to do with China, but these [downs] really don't cost”, Vuchic said.

The source for the value of fears imported from China is the Customs Administration of Serbia, the Bureau of Statistics of Serbia has said in a written response to the REL.

This institution presents the data on international trade to the Republic Statistics Office on a monthly basis.

“All procurement data, which has international character, are not secret to intelligence services, nor to foreign country officials”, has told REL Nikola Lulunic, executive director of the nongovernmental Council for Strategic Policy.

Therefore, according to him, weapons procurement data and military equipment from China is kept secret only for the public, respectively, for the citizens of Serbia.

“instead of paralyzing with transparency the procurement of combat systems, we show them in military parades with signs of third countries”, Lounic has indicated.

What are your fears?

The CH-92A Drons produce China's Scientific and Technological Corporation. She's a state company.

As reported in the specifying of Serbia's Defence Ministry, the pilotless CH-92A air carrier could hit the target from a distance of nine kilometers, while it can register the ground and position of enemy units from a distance of 250km.

The maximum height at which it flies is 5,000 meters, while speed is slightly less than 200 miles per hour.

The CH-92A Drons, among other things, are used for air terrain research and laser-run missile attacks on ground targets.

Each drone is equipped with two rockets that can hit a target from a distance of 9 kilometers.

According to the official page of the Chinese Aviation Scientific and Technological Corporation, the company exports to more than 30 countries and regions in the world, including Asia, Africa and Europe.

The company's production programme includes the CH-4 threat, which is said to have played a significant role in the armed conflicts in the Middle East and is in use in Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Pakistan and Myanmar.

According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute for 2020, China is the second largest arms producer in the world, after the United States and before Russia.

Data from the same institute shows that in 2010-2020, China has sent 220 combat drones to 16 countries in the world.

The biggest buyers in this period were: Saudi Arabia (55), the United Arab Emirates (40), Pakistan (25), and Iraq Burma (from 12th).

Dangers for Serbia
According to Lulucci, buying weapons and military equipment from China poses danger to Serbia's foreign policy.

All of this, considering that Serbia is a candidate country for membership in the European Union. It tries to improve co-operation with the United States and, at the same time, develop military-technical co-operation with Russia.

This could have consequences not only in relations with the European Union or the United States, but also with the Russian Federation”, Lounic said.

According to him, the real problem would be strategic support in Chinese technology.

“should be considered that charges of copying intellectual property in China are getting more vocal. Russian state-owned company Rostek has also charged Beijing, saying that in the past 17 years, he has copied Russian war systems in 500 cases”, Lounic has said.

The European Union and the United States have placed certain types of embargoes on the sale of weapons in China.

The EU has imposed arms embargo on China since 1989, following violent crackdown on protests in Beijing.

For the same reason, the embargo has imposed the US, which in August 2020 has warned Serbia about the procurement of weapons from China.

The warning has been made after buying the Chinese missile defence system, FK-3, is included in the annual report of Serbia's state-owned military company, Jugoimport DSPR.

“The governments should be aware of the short and long-term risks and costs of doing business with Chinese companies”, the United States Embassy in Belgrade said in a written statement to Radio Free Europe.