The sale of ammunition production machines between the Belgian company NLC and the state-owned company Combat Complex Systems cost at least 13.8 million euros more than the real price, writes BIRN.
It was July 1, 2017. President Aleksandar Vučić cut the ribbon in Požega, opening a new factory for the production of ammunition in Belo.
Belom was supposed to be another company in the Serbian dedicated industry that would fill the budget of the Republic of Serbia with the production and sale of ammunition around the world.
The owner of Beloma is the company "Combat Complex Systems" (BSS), which, on the other hand, is owned by the state giant for the trade in arms and military equipment - Jugoimport SDPR.
However, in addition to the fact that Belom continues to operate at a loss six years after the start of production, the company also found itself at the center of a European affair due to the deal that its owner, Combat Complex Systems, made with the Belgian company New Lauchausse (NLC) for the purchase of ammunition production machines. in Belom.
The Belgian company was under investigation for violating EU sanctions imposed on Russia, and business with Serbian companies was among the potentially problematic - primarily due to suspicions that machines or ammunition were intended for Russia, and that Serbia is only a transit country.
There was no evidence for that, however, the investigation conducted by the audit firm KPMG showed numerous other irregularities, to the detriment of Serbian companies, and thus also Serbian taxpayers - in the total value of at least 13.8 million.
BIRN has obtained two reports from forensic investigator KPMG from 2022, which allege "two financial anomalies" in the purchase of production lines for the 12.7 x 108 mm ammunition used by heavy machine guns.
One concerns the alleged fine of 1.8 million euros because the Serbian buyer was late with the payment, while the second "anomaly" concerns the inflated price of the transfer of know-how, which the Serbian side paid for at least 12 million more than is realistic.
KPMG's reports show that the Belgian company did not have appropriate documentation or a formal calculation to justify the prices, as well as evidence of communication with Serbian partners about the delay in payment, which would allegedly result in financial "penalties".
"There are indications of fraud in the sale of ammunition production lines to Jugoimport," KPMG forensic investigator Cihan Kuzkaja told BIRN at the time.
"Without a doubt, all possible fraudulent actions are to the detriment of Serbian taxpayers," adds the author of the report, stating that the question for the Serbian side is why they agreed to such prices in the first place.
His investigation also revealed a "hidden" intermediary in the business - the Serbian private company Intermerkur owned by Vladimir Ivanovic.
Intermerkur was not on the list of commission agencies of the NLC, but its owner coordinated the business through e-mails, something that not everyone involved in the business was aware of, claims Kuzkaja and states that there are "indications that these are corrupt payments." ".
Ivanovic confirmed to BIRN that he had contacts with the buyer, the Serbian company Borbeni Kompleksi Sistem, as well as with the Belgian NLC, providing them with information and advice. However, he claims that none of the parties ended up paying him for the "mediation".
BIRN sent questions to the Serbian companies involved in the purchase and sale, as well as to the Belgian NLC, but we did not receive answers by the time the text was published.
A former employee of SDPR who worked at the company at the time when the work was contracted with the Belgian company, tells BIRN that it was already known then that the production lines were overpaid. "It was talked about in the company even then. Also, the acquisition of machines from Belgium was talked about in military circles. I received confirmation of this from a source in the Ministry of Defense," he told BIRN.
"Any indications of withdrawal of money through overpayment should be investigated by the competent authorities," he emphasizes.
Read the entire text on the website of BIRN.
BG/BIRN
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