Mass ammunition for Ukraine, and soon drones... plants in Serbia play an important role in the empire of a young Czech manufacturer weapons Mihal Strnada, writes the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
"It was only a year and a half ago that the departments of the Czechoslovak Group (CSG) moved into the new headquarters in Prague," writes the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).
"But the rectangular eight-story building of red brick and glass, with strict rows of twelve windows each, is already bursting at the seams. That's how fast the empire of 33-year-old arms and technology manufacturer Michal Strnad, one of the richest men in the Czech Republic, is growing."
The text states that CSG is constantly expanding the company's production and markets. There are them in the USA, Germany, Ukraine and - Serbia, reports Deutsche Welle.
There, we remind you, in November CVSG bought 51 percent in the Belgrade company MUST Solutions, which produces aircraft engines. It was announced that he would work for military industry, that there will also be a center for the development of unmanned systems in Serbia. CSG is also the owner of the "14 October" ammunition factory in Kruševac.
Discovering the sky
As FAZ writes, in the first three quarters of this year, the Czech company almost doubled its turnover to 4,5 billion euros.
"Strnad, married and the father of two children, is the largest producer of small-caliber ammunition in the (Western) world, one of the leaders in the field of artillery. Without his work, the EU initiative on ammunition for Ukraine would hardly have been so successful," the newspaper writes.
He also makes armored vehicles, howitzers, radars, and now he is discovering more and more - the sky. FAZ writes specifically about the daughter-company of Avianera, within which the Belgrade branch works.
According to Strnad's announcement, it wants to be "a significant player in the field of military unmanned aerial systems and advanced weapons systems."
Pavel Cehal, who is entrusted with the Avianer branch, says yes to FAZ wartime everyday life in Ukraine shows the "rapidly growing, enormous potential of unmanned aerial systems".
The newspaper writes that CSG already has in its possession electronics for controlling aircraft as well as missiles, but that it began to conquer the field of engines by purchasing them in Belgrade.
Cehal is not afraid of a drop in demand if there is a ceasefire in Ukraine, writes FAZ, and says that drones are becoming increasingly important in the military and civilian sectors. "We will be able to deliver successful and unique products at a reasonable price, and we will have the manufacturing capacity to do so."
Flourished after the Russian aggression
Frankfurter generally describes the career of Michal Strnad, who took over the business from his father as a young man. The father mostly bought military equipment from Soviet times to modernize and resell, but the younger Strnad took it to a much higher level.
"Central Europe's largest arms smith flourished especially after Russia's attack on Ukraine - maintaining old Russian tanks, supplying howitzers, armored vehicles and ammunition," the paper says.
Explosives and ammunition, it says, are made in their facilities in Slovakia, Spain, Greece and Serbia. In the USA, plants are under construction.
Strnad is also said to have shares in Prague's luxurious Four Seasons Hotel near the Charles Bridge, to be the owner of the soccer club Victoria from Plzen, to finance the Czech Olympic team and to have charitable organizations. It is estimated that it weighs more than ten billion euros.
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