Albania plans to reopen weapon production plants

The government has already hosted several visits from unidentified foreign companies at the mechanical manufacturing complex in Polican, and the two defence equipment production plants near the cities of Elbasan and Gramsh, but it has recently seen the need for a more structured approach to achieve the goal, Peleshi said in a video posted on Facebook.

“Last year we decided to approach the industry revival in a more professional way, by conducting a re-assessment in collaboration with NATO’s procurement agency, NSPA [...] so that we have a better knowledge of what we have, its value and the value of investment required to resume production and also, what’s the market demand and what market projections we can make," the minister stated.

Peleshi underlined the importance of this plan amid increasing geopolitical tensions which have erupted into armed conflicts in recent years.

While the manufacturing complex in Polican is completely defunct, the two production plants in Elbasan and Gramsh now only function as weapon demilitarization facilities, Peleshi noted.

The three facilities were built in 1962 to supply the state’s armed forces with ammunition, cannons, aviation bombs and mortar shells. With the restructuring of the Albanian military forces following the collapse of the communist regime in 1990, demand for the plants’ production fell drastically, leading to the end of production.