Lakic reveals big plans for defense industry: FBiH developing domestic drone and three more new products

Federal Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry Vedran Lakic announced the development of four new products in the defense industry of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, among which the first is a domestic drone and gunpowder production.

Speaking to BiznisInfo.ba about the situation in the defense industry, Lakic said that he did not consider the decline in exports recorded in the first months of the current year to be a serious problem and that those were cyclical movements that had occurred before.

– This is not a serious decline. There are cyclical periods in all industries, especially in defense. Looking at the history of it all, these things happen very often – said Lakic.

He added that this could be partly connected to the American customs policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, but that the situation was already stabilizing.

– We are working to make these customs duties much lower. Our trips to the United States of America were also on this occasion and we are receiving very clear signals – said the minister.

Exports to USA growing again

Lakic points out that more favorable trade conditions automatically affect the growth of production and exports.

– This is a basic economic indicator. When we have favorable economic frameworks, the level of production and exports automatically increases. This further leads to the employment of new workers and the development of the industry – he stated.

Let us remind that data on exports of the defense industry - published by the Agency for Statistics and the Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH - caused some concern in the first months of the year, especially due to the importance of the American market for domestic manufacturers of ammunition and military equipment. However, it seems that the situation with exports to the USA is slowly stabilizing.

First BiH drone and domestic gunpowder

The second part of the conversation referred to the development of new products within the domestic military industry. Lakic confirmed that the Federation of BiH was developing four new products, of which he revealed two.

– One is gunpowder, and the other is the first BiH drone – said the minister.

He did not want to reveal the remaining two projects.

– I would leave these two for a later period, until we sort out some more things and until we are completely sure that it will actually be implemented – he said.

New plants in Tuzla and Krajina

According to him, the development of new products will be accompanied by the expansion of production capacities. The minister confirmed that new projects were being developed in the Tuzla and Una-Sana Canton.

– We are expanding the defense industry in these two cantons. Our wish is to develop the entire Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina evenly – said Lakic.

It has already been announced earlier that a gunpowder production project is being prepared in the Tuzla Canton, which would represent one of the most important new capacities of the domestic military industry. The project will be implemented by the company Pretis Vogosca.

Continued expansion of defense industry

The announcement of new production capacities comes at a time when the domestic defense industry is recording a strong increase in interest in international markets, despite occasional fluctuations in exports.

If all the announced projects are implemented, the domestic military industry could significantly expand its production program in the coming years and further strengthen its position on the global market.

Federal Ministry of Energy Mining and Industry

Agency for Statistics of BiH

Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH

Pretis Vogošća

Vedran Lakić

defense industry

military industry

export of arms and ammunition

American market

production of gunpowder

first BiH drone

new products

production capacities

Krajina

military equipment

production of arms

production of ammunition