Russia continues to lose the Serbian arms market — one of the last loyal countries in Europe that has not joined sanctions and has been purchasing weapons from Moscow since Soviet times.
Serbia has terminated a number of contracts for Russian weapons that had been supplying its army since the USSR era. This was reported in an interview with the Novosti publication by the chief of the general staff of Serbia, Milan Mojsilović, reports The Moscow Times.
According to him, the reason for this decision was sanctions against Moscow.
"When it comes to arms supplies from the Russian Federation, it is currently virtually impossible," Mojsilović said. "We are trying to find a solution to the situation through diplomatic channels. We have canceled several contracts, and some have been postponed in the hope that the situation in international relations will normalize."
According to Mojsilović, the Serbian army can still purchase spare parts for Soviet and Russian-made equipment because they are produced under license in many countries worldwide. However, obtaining new equipment from Russia is no longer possible.
In August of last year, Serbia decided to abandon the purchase of a new batch of Russian fighter jets that had been under discussion since 2021. Instead of Russian-made aircraft, Belgrade acquired 12 French Rafale jets for €2.7 billion, which are intended to replace the aging fleet of Russian MiG-29s.
This deal marks the beginning of a radical restructuring of the Serbian Air Force, as acknowledged by Mojsilović: pilot retraining, military infrastructure reorganization, and other "complex preparations" will be required. The choice in favor of French fighter jets was made because they "will provide the necessary capabilities for the Air Force in the long term," emphasized the head of the Serbian General Staff.
Due to the war, a number of contracts for the supply of Russian weapons abroad were disrupted, acknowledged Sergey Chemezov, head of Rostec, in August last year. Due to the need to fulfill an increased state defense order, a "waiting list" and a "substantial queue" arose, he said. The volume of canceled contracts may reach $5-10 billion in the past year, according to calculations by The Moscow Times.
According to SPIRI's calculations, Russia's arms exports collapsed by 53% from 2019 to 2023 compared to the previous five-year period. As a result, Russia's share dropped from second to third place among the world's largest arms suppliers, with its share of the global market shrinking to 11%. The United States still holds the top spot, with exports rising by 17%, and its share of the global arms market reaching 42%. France has moved into second place, increasing its exports by 47% over the past five years.
