balkan insight
02 Nov 2010 / 08:52
Despite the difficult economic situation facing Albania, arms traders hope to capitalise on Tirana’s need to standardise its military arsenal with NATO requirements.
Despite the difficult economic situation facing Albania, arms traders hope to capitalise on Tirana’s need to standardise its military arsenal with NATO requirements.
Besar LikmetaTirana
“As the requirements in NATO are quite different, there is the need for some renewal of the arsenal and adjustment to NATO standards in order to cooperate on a military level,” a representative of MBB, a division of Eurocopter, told Balkan Insight.
“As the requirements in NATO are quite different, there is the need for some renewal of the arsenal and adjustment to NATO standards in order to cooperate on a military level,” a representative of MBB, a division of Eurocopter, told Balkan Insight.
“I see much interest and activity from the government side,” he added.
Following Tirana’s successful bid to join NATO in April this year, MBB and other security companies, weapons traders, and aircraft manufacturers lined up over the weekend at the ALMEX 2010 exhibition in Tirana, trying to wow Albania's Ministry of Defense with their latest security tools and weapons.
Military expenditures have fallen in recent years in Albania and other countries in the Balkans, as governments struggle to recover from the global financial crisis and face political situations that do not facilitate investments.“
It is a difficult situation now because of the economic crisis,” admitted Kleanthis Kourtis, General Manager of Rotsas International, a regional representative for Bell Helicopters and Cessna Aircraft Company.“
In Eastern Europe the governments do not particularly spend now, as they have to make tough choices, but in the future you never know,” Kourtis told Balkan Insight.
Albania has begun to upgrade its defence sector, and the minister of defence, Arben Imami, said at the exhibition that the “modernisation of the armed forces with new equipment remains a priority.”
Tirana has ordered nearly €100 million worth of new military equipment in the last two years, as it works to demolish its large stock piles of Soviet-era weapons and ammunition amassed during the regime of former Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha.
In December 2009 the Ministry of Defense signed a €78.6 million deal for the acquisition of five AS 532 AL Cougar helicopters from Eurocopter, while in February 2008, it added four new patrol ships to its navy fleet after reaching a €31 million deal with the Netherlands.
balkan insight
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