Bosnian arms exporter accuses ministers over Ukraine deal

Associated Press: 30. January 2015

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A Bosnian arms exporter has made a criminal complaint against the country's current and former ministers of trade for blocking a 5 million-euro deal with Ukraine because of objections from Russia.

The manager of UNIS-Group, Suad Osmanagic, said Friday that politicians have harmed the entire industry, which will cause financial losses and layoffs. He made a complaint of abuse of office.

Russia has warned Bosnia not to deliver arms to Ukraine but Osmanagic claims the deal is legal, Ukraine is on no international list of countries to which arms exportation is banned and all other Bosnian institutions required to clear the deal have done so. He accused the ministers of succumbing to Russian pressure.

UNIS GROUP d.o.o. factories members are as following:

1. BINAS d.d. Bugojno (cartridge 40mm, fuses, hand grenade, gun percussion and electric primers, anti-tank mines)

2. BNT-TMiH d.d. Novi Travnik (guns and howitzers, mortars, recoilless guns, rocket launchers, machine guns)

3. UNIS GINEX d.d. Goražde (all kinds of percussion primers for small arms ammunition, primers, duplex and blasting caps, delay elements, electric primers, intended for fuses, electric squibs, igniters, proportions different types of initiating explosives and chemicals)

4. IGMAN d.d. Konjic (small arms ammunition cat. 5.56 – 7.9 mm, ammunition of cal. 12.7mm, hunting & sporting ammunition, metal links for ammunition)

5. PRETIS d.d. – Vogošća (mortar ammunition, artillery ammunition, tank and anti-tank ammunition, rockets, infantry weapon ammunition, air bombs)

6. PRETIS d.o.o. – Vogošća (production and overhaul of machines and tools)

7. TRZ d.d. Hadžići (protective equipment, overhaul and modernization of weapons and equipment)

8. PS VITEZIT d.o.o. Vitez (explosives, detonating fuse, powders, propellants, base bleed unit)

9. ZRAK d.d. Sarajevo (fire control systems, observation and sighting devices for tanks and armored vehicles, mortars sighting device, howitzers sighting devices, antiaircraft guns sighting devices: 30 mm, 40 mm, hand rocket launcher sighting devices 128mm, 262mm, compasses, observation-measuring, passive (night) devices, hand binoculars, snipers optical sight).

UNIS-Group was to have exported 300 tons of ammunition to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.