"With my arrival to Slavonski Brod and
the company Đuro Đaković, which is certainly the symbol of this town, I wish to
confirm that I believe in the Croatian military industry, its people and,
finally, the products which, as I heard today, are also recognized in the world,”
said the President of the Republic of Croatia Ivo Josipović after his visit to Đuro
Đaković's military program and cargo wagon program. The president and his
associates toured the plants of the Slavonski Brod-based company, and the
Management Board of Đuro Đaković, headed by President Vladimir Kovačević
informed the president about the company and its capacities, with a special
emphasis on the military program, production of armored fighting vehicles and
tank modernization.
"Đuro Đaković manufactures good
products, both civilian and military ones. This is important because the
company, apart from the exporting ambitions, has excellent references, in the
form of jobs done for the Croatian army. I hope that the budget reduction will
not affect the engagement of the necessary resources in order to service tanks
and armored fighting vehicles. I was told that talks are being conducted with
foreign partners about export possibilities, and this opportunity should be
taken,” President Josipović said.
"I am glad that the president has
seen for himself what Đuro Đaković can produce with exceptional and specific
knowledge and skills,” President of the Management Board Vladimir Kovačević
said.
"For our stability, the stability of
our employees as well as a great number of our subcontractors, the
sustainability of our production, primarily the opening of the export market
for the armored fighting vehicles, the continuity of production and references
in the modernization and general assessment of tanks are important. It is crucial
for us to continue the strategic cooperation with the strong, and not weakened
Ministry of Defense. The fact is that, over the past two years, the leaders in
the Ministry of Defense and General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of
Croatia have invest exceptional efforts to support the entire Croatian defense
industry and the opening of the export markets. In order to enable an even more
effective support of the Ministry of Defense to the small Croatian defense industry
in the big, global market, it should be strengthened from one rebalance to
another with budget increases. It should not be weakened with continual reduction
of its budget,” President of the Management Board of Đuro Đaković Vladimir Kovačević
said.
He added that the Ministry of Defense
was doing a serious job for the Croatian exporters and had to have a special
status compared to other ministries.
"For illustration purposes, in the
global special vehicle market, Đuro Đaković is 'fighting' for jobs with
competitors with annual incomes higher than three annual Croatian budgets.
Moreover, it has no support from the strong Ministry of Defense or domestic
references, which makes obtaining export jobs considerably more difficult,”
Kovačević said.
President Josipović stated that Đuro
Đaković was a strong company that had in more than nine decades of its
existence shown that it was prepared for the most demanding jobs. Since this is
an industry that is especially important for the country's security, he
believes it will manage to realize the planned jobs it expects.