Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Defense Minister Zukan Helez said yesterday in Bugojno that the Binas factory there will employ at least 300 new workers by the end of the year thanks to the new contracts signed with India.
After the visit to Binas organized by the Ministry of Defense for the military attachés in BiH, Helez pointed out that this factory is taking precedence in the weapons industry of BiH, which, in turn, is taking precedence in the Western Balkans.
He stated that he is particularly pleased that the company is adopting new technologies such as the development of igniters for small rockets for drones.
”The weapons industry of BiH is majority-owned by the state and will remain so forever, and I am glad that the Americans have also taken ownership, but they will remain minority owners,” said Helez.
He called media articles about how 90 percent of Binas production goes to Israel’s needs “malicious nonsense.”
Helez reminded that two years ago Binas was facing bankruptcy and that part of the technology was transferred to PRETIS and part to Bratunac, which was an attempt by the SDA and some who are now in prison to destroy Binas.
He added that with the arrival of the Coalition of Three in power, the situation changed and today Binas is a success story, which is mostly due to the new management.
The director of Binas, Abaz Mandzuka, specified that they currently have signed contracts worth around 100 million BAM, of which they plan to implement around 50 million BAM this year, or twice as much as last year’s 25 million BAM.
He said that they currently employ 420 workers, and if everything goes according to plan, another shift should be introduced by the end of the year, and with additional employment, they could get “another Binas”.
The military attaché of Romania in BiH, Brigadier Robertino-Cristian Ciobanu, thanked the Ministry and the Administration of Binas for organizing the visit on behalf of all the present military attachés.
He added that this visit is part of the activities that are part of the plan signed between the Association of Military Attaches and the Ministry of Defense of BiH.
