Serbian Weapons plant staff protest in Belgrade

The Zastava employees came to Belgrade from their home town Kragujevac to express their dissatisfaction with the new law on weapons and military equipment and the fact that their demand to exempt the weapons maker from privatization was ignored.

Protest organizers left a letter for parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic, listing the reasons for their protest.  

Zastava Firearms Factory union leader Dragan Ilic told the crowd that he expects talks to be called to reach some kind of agreement with the employees who want to save the plant.  

The Zastava employees shouted Thieves, Thieves and waved red cards mimicking football referees. They organized several gathering before the new law was adopted to protest against plans to privatize 49 percent of Serbia’s oldest military industry factory.  

Zastava Firearms CEO Milojko Brzakovic warned that the protests could have a bad effect on the factory’s business. “The management is convinced that the privatization will not end badly and that the government will make sure investors in the factory are solvent, both domestic and foreign,” he said.