PRAGUE: Czech exports of military and defense material grew 4.2 billion Kč to 11.8 billion Kč last year, Defense Minister Martin Stropnický said.
The Czech Association of Defense and Security Industry (AOBP) estimates these exports may reach up to 14 billion Kč this year.
“The Czech defense industry is successful in the world,” Stropnický said.
This cannot be attributed simply to global trends, because investments into military equipment were falling in the world, he noted.
The result came about thanks to long-term cooperation of companies, demand for Czech technologically advanced products from armies in the whole world and state support to exporters, Stropnický added.
“According to AOBP statistics, exports grew by 4.2 billion Kč year on year to 11.8 billion Kč in 2014. The outlook for the end of 2014 is around 14 billion Kč,” Stropnický said in summing up the figures.
At the same time, he expressed his conviction that it is in the interest of the Czech Republic’s security that Czech companies expand to foreign markets.
The domestic industry is an inseparable part of the country’s ability to defend itself, in particular at the time when the military threat is practically within reach due to Russia’s aggressive policy, Stropnický declared.
AOBP president Jiří Hynek in his speech also expressed the view that arms production needs to be maintained in the Czech Republic.
He sees lower extent of control over the sector and focus on its key elements as one of the paths towards this aim. He has also proposed that the European Union cut the list of dual-use goods, to which anti-Russian sanctions apply, from 300 pages at the moment to one-tenth.
Stropnický today also criticized the current system of purchases for the Czech military. “We compete for the lowest price where we should compete for the best quality,” he remarked.
Chief of Staff Josef Bečvář presented the concept of development of Czech military until 2025 at the forum. He pointed to the three biggest problems, namely lack of finances, insufficient number of soldiers and civilian employees and hasty changes in structure.
“The Czech Republic has been repeatedly criticized at NATO for insufficiently financing defense,” Bečvář remarked. “It is necessary to secure stable resources from the state budget and reach a political consensus.”
He sees as a guarantee the pledge of the government coalition to be raising the Defense Ministry’s budget so that it would reach 1.4 percent of GDP in 2020.
