January 31 (SeeNews) - Belarus has agreed to donate eight MiG-29 fighter jets and two Buk medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems to Serbia, according to Serbian media reports.
As in the case of the Russian donation of six MiG-29 fighter jets agreed in December, Serbia will only have to pay for the modernisation of the aircraft, daily newspaper Politika quoted Serbia's defence minister Zoran Djordjevic as saying on Friday.
The donation was agreed by prime minister Aleksandar Vucic and Belarusian president Aleksander Lukashenko during an official visit of a Serbian government delegation to Minsk on Friday. Details of the donation will be negotiated after May, when a joint body will be set up by the two governments to advance defence cooperation, Djordjevic added.
The MiG-29 jets to be donated by Belarus will be of the 9-13 version, the most modern one, while the Buk systems will be upgraded to Buk MB type in Belarus, which means that 85% of the systems' electronics will be replaced, Politika quoted the material resources adviser to Djordjevic, Nenad Miloradovic, as saying.
Moreover, Serbia is interested in receiving S-300 long-range SAM systems from Belarus and considers it possible to establish cooperation between Belarusian companies and Serbian truck maker Fabrika Automobila Priboj (FAP), Djordjevic pointed out.
Serbia said in November that it intends to acquire a 95% stake in FAP to avoid the company's liquidation. A Serbian court has given the green light to the company's restructuring plan which involves the transformation of 8.693 billion dinars ($75.1 million/70.1 million euro) of debt into capital and allows for the resumption of production activities.
In December, Serbia's government said Russia agreed to donate six MiG-29 fighter jets to the country's Air Force plus 30 T-72 C tanks and 30 BRDM-2 amphibious armoured vehicles. Serbia will pay between 180 million euro ($192.6 million) and 230 million euro for the first phase of the modernisation of the aircraft. Serbia currently owns four MiG-29 fighter jets of the 9-13 version and expects to receive six from Russia in April.
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