|
Yugoslavia Arms Sales
In 1990 Yugoslavia was among a small group of poorer
countries with industrial economies actively developing arms
export industries. In the international arms market, competition
from larger countries was formidable. A civilian government
organization, the Federal Directorate for Supply and Procurement,
managed foreign sales programs. In the late 1980s, arms exports
averaged over US$400 million per year, exceeding US$500 million
per year twice between 1977 and 1987. However, the amount
fluctuated by as much as 40 percent from year to year. Yugoslavia
sold almost US$2 billion worth of weapons to Iraq in its war with
Iran during the 1980s. In that decade, Yugoslav arms sales
exceeded those of Warsaw Pact countries Hungary, the German
Democratic Republic (East Germany), and Bulgaria, NATO members
Belgium and the Netherlands, and neutral countries Austria,
Sweden, and Switzerland. They were less than those of Warsaw Pact
countries Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Romania and NATO countries
Spain and Italy. Arms accounted for an average of 4 percent of
total Yugoslav exports annually and as much as 6 or 7 percent in
some years. In all, Yugoslav arms went to sixty-seven countries
in 1990, but the Middle East and North Africa were the prime
markets. Many top customer countries were members of the
Nonaligned Movement. Among other weapons and equipment,
Yugoslavia exported ammunition, antiarmor and antitank weapons
systems, frigates, missile boats, and Mala swimmer delivery
vehicles. A proposed expansion for the 1990s was to include
foreign sale of the Orao ground attack fighter and the Partisan
helicopter.
In the 1980s, Yugoslav weapons sales to troubled regions of
the world became an important ethical issue for many citizens,
especially in Slovenia. They objected to the lack of Federal
Assembly oversight and public information about the country's
arms industries and their dealings abroad. In the early 1980s,
Yugoslavia apparently helped a Swedish firm avoid Sweden's strict
arms export laws. It posed as the ultimate recipient of Bofors
40mm L/70 antiaircraft guns and artillery pieces that were
subsequently reexported to Libya and Iraq. The incident revealed
the extent of Yugoslav involvement in the international arms
market. In 1988 the situation became a cause célèbre in Slovenia
when the Slovenes who had revealed Yugoslavia's role were
arrested and tried for divulging military secrets.
Data as of December 1990
|
