Contracts worth 32.5 million kunas for procurement of military equipment signed

Contracts with the MOD on behalf of the bidder association for procurement of combat uniforms and footwear for members of the Armed Forces were signed by the representatives of Kroko International d.o.o.  and Inkop Obuća, and for procurement of other garments with “Galeb Omiš”, “HEMCO Đakovo”, “Odjeća Zagreb”, “Varteks Varaždin,” “Jadran Tvornica Čarapa” “Orljava Pozega,” and “Šešir Zagreb.”

In a statement to the media after signing the contract Minister Kotromanović said that the MOD has decided to cooperate with local companies to manufacture military equipment because we wanted to contribute to the development of Croatian economy. He also pointed out that “by the signing of contracts for military equipment, we want to show that the armed forces are not only consumers, but also a generator of economic development and development of certain products that can be competitive in the world”. Minister Kotromanović added that Croatia produces all clothing and footwear worn by Croatian soldiers in missions around the world, and stressed that the MOD would continue to promote Croatian manufacturers abroad. “In this regard I can announce that this year our military industry will be represented on the two fairs of military equipment and weapons – in Albania and Azerbaijan”, Kotromanović said.

Minister Kotromanović presented a certificate of introduction of VHS assault rifle into operational use in the CAF to producer “HS Produkt” from Karlovac, CEO Željko Pavlin. He added that the rifle was extremely good product that would seriously compete with others in the world and contribute to the Croatian Army operational readiness and capability. He also pointed out that this gun already has been in use in the Armed Forces and has been tested in Afghanistan, Golan Heights and Sierra Leone. “This year we plan to purchase about one thousand of VHS assault rifles”, Kotromanovic added. Director of HS Produkt Željko Pavlin said that the gun had some novelties such as an optical sight, which was developed in collaboration with Ruđer Bošković Institute, and grenade launcher, which allows for the rifle to perform any combat task. “The specificity of this rifle is that we further develop it and optimize the use for the left-handed and right-handed, which has no single rifle in the world”, said Pavlin.

Representatives of Croatian companies – manufacturers of military equipment with which MOD signed contracts, especially thanked the Ministry of Defence for it recognized the potentials of domestic industry and on the other hand manufacturers can offer high quality product at a competitive price. Manufacturers of military equipment considered that contracts worth 32 million would have a significant boost in crisis and help stabilize the domestic production.

Croatian textile and clothing industry has more than 30,000 employees and is the second in manufacturing industry by number of employees. It is extremely affected by the crisis, and in the last five years, 10,000 workers have lost their jobs. MOD is one of the first to recognize the importance of this industry and its problems and has enabled the textile and footwear manufacturers to employ their capacity and receive multi-year contracts, highlighted manufacturers.