DRON BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC
Serbia had agreed production of drones in its territory with Elbit Systems, an Israel-based international military technology company, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) published on April 7.
According to BIRN sources, Elbit will have a 51 percent stake in the drone factory, while Yugoimport–SDPR, a Serbian state-owned weapons manufacturer, will have 49 percent of shares.
The factory will reportedly make two types of drones - for close-range and long-range missions, and will be located in Simanovci, near Belgrade, in an area which will be leased from TV Pink owner Zeljko Mitrovic, according to the report.
BIRN also recalled that Israel and Serbia already have developed cooperation in the arms industry.
“Since 2023, the value of Serbia’s export of ammunition and arms to Israel has surged 42 times, reaching EUR114 million at the end of 2025, despite calls of numerous UN experts for discontinuing sale of military equipment to Israel. The largest portion of shipments to Israel was via Yugoimport SDPR,” it said in the report.
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