Defense minister marks 4 years in office

Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac says the greatest success of his ministry in the last four years was the abolishing of the compulsory army service. He listed "improved reputation and standard of the Serbian Army members" as another success. Defense minister marks 4 years in office As for failures, Sutanovac mentioned "insufficient modernization of gear that the army has at its disposal". He said that the reason for this was a lack of funds in the Serbian budget. At a press conference organized to mark his four years in office as a minister of defense, he said he was convinced that in this year certain progress will take place in this direction, because relying only on the overhaul of the existing combat gear could not be a longterm solution. However, Sutanovac pointed out that in 2010 the army had only EUR 150mn less in the budget compared to 2008, "yet managed to successfully finalize the process of professionalization and purchased some new combat gear". Sutanovac stressed that "exceptional quality organization scheme, which enabled significant savings, was established in the defense system reforms". As for organizational changes, the minister said there was a cut in the number of people "who had a work position, but had nothing to deal with". At the same time the number of soldiers was not reduced because the number of those working in offices and cabinets went down, he said. Sutanovac noted that from 2005 to 2007 the defense system was reduced by 40,000 members and that persons were not made redundant or forced to retire "since he became minister". At the same time, according to him 37,000 jobs were created in the defense system, some still vacant, while 9,600 soldiers were hired in the process of professionalization. Sutanovac pointed out that the military budget for this year amounted to EUR 675mn or 2.08 percent of GDP, and that in the year 2007 it amounted to 2.56 percent of GDP. The average salary of employees in the Defense Ministry and in Serbian army is currently RSD 41,000, which is above the Serbian average that amounts to about RSD 35,000. In the last four years, the Ministry of Defense signed 23 international agreements and received donations of EUR 13.65mn, and a Turkish donation is about to be received, which is “one of the largest ones that the army received since 1950s”, said he. Sutanovac specified that the donation will be for a single purpose and will be allocated for transforming the airport Ladjevci near Kraljevo into a military-civilian airport. Dragan Sutanovac (Tanjug, file)

Defense minister marks 4 years in office

As for failures, Šutanovac mentioned "insufficient modernization of gear that the army has at its disposal".

He said that the reason for this was a lack of funds in the Serbian budget.

At a press conference organized to mark his four years in office as a minister of defense, he said he was convinced that in this year certain progress will take place in this direction, because relying only on the overhaul of the existing combat gear could not be a longterm solution.

However, Šutanovac pointed out that in 2010 the army had only EUR 150mn less in the budget compared to 2008, "yet managed to successfully finalize the process of professionalization and purchased some new combat gear".

Šutanovac stressed that "exceptional quality organization scheme, which enabled significant savings, was established in the defense system reforms".

As for organizational changes, the minister said there was a cut in the number of people "who had a work position, but had nothing to deal with".

At the same time the number of soldiers was not reduced because the number of those working in offices and cabinets went down, he said.

Šutanovac noted that from 2005 to 2007 the defense system was reduced by 40,000 members and that persons were not made redundant or forced to retire "since he became minister".

At the same time, according to him 37,000 jobs were created in the defense system, some still vacant, while 9,600 soldiers were hired in the process of professionalization.

Šutanovac pointed out that the military budget for this year amounted to EUR 675mn or 2.08 percent of GDP, and that in the year 2007 it amounted to 2.56 percent of GDP.

The average salary of employees in the Defense Ministry and in Serbian army is currently RSD 41,000, which is above the Serbian average that amounts to about RSD 35,000.

In the last four years, the Ministry of Defense signed 23 international agreements and received donations of EUR 13.65mn, and a Turkish donation is about to be received, which is “one of the largest ones that the army received since 1950s”, said he.

Šutanovac specified that the donation will be for a single purpose and will be allocated for transforming the airport Lađevci near Kraljevo into a military-civilian airport.