Moscow. December 10. INTERFAX-Moscow continues to help Belgrade strengthen the power of the Serbian armed forces, Deputy head of the Federal service for military-technical cooperation (FSMTC) of the Russian Federation Anatoly Punchuk told Interfax.
"We provide and will continue to provide assistance to our fraternal people in maintaining and strengthening the combat readiness of the armed forces," Punchuk said.
He added that the prospects include the supply of the most modern equipment, meeting all the needs in aviation, air defense, and Ground forces.
"We are ready to consider, today they have opportunities, and the question of a loan is not worth it now," the Deputy head of the service said, answering a question about the supply of equipment on credit.
As reported by Interfax, in February 2020, Russia completed the delivery of all six contracted Pantsir air defense systems to Serbia.
In an interview with a Serbian newspaper, Dmitry Shugaev, head of the Federal service for military-technical cooperation (FSMTC) of the Russian Federation, said that Moscow and Belgrade have been closely cooperating in the field of aviation and air defense equipment in recent years.
"The Republic of Serbia is armed with MiG-29 aircraft, six of which were delivered from the Russian defense Ministry, mi-family helicopters, and Russian air defense systems. Among the completed contracts, I can mention the delivery last year of a batch of Mi-17V-5 helicopters, the first batch of which was delivered to Serbia in 2016. In June 2018, a contract was signed for the supply of Mi-35M helicopters, the equipment will be delivered at the end of 2019, " Shugaev said.
Meanwhile, in September, Serbian radio, citing defense Minister Alexander Vulin, reported that the Serbian authorities decided to freeze all plans for joint military exercises with other countries. "During the coming period, we will not participate in any joint exercises or other projects related to the armed forces with NATO, the CSTO, Russia, the United States, China, the EU, the West and the East," the Minister said.
