Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin said on Wednesday that average salaries for Army of Serbia (VS) personnel has risen along with living standards.

Speaking during a tour of the technical test centre at the Nikinci exercise grounds, Vulin said the average monthly salary for professional military personnel has risen from 276 Euros in 2011 to 359 Euros in 2019.  

The minister said care is being taken about the living standards of all Serbian military personnel.  

“In 2011, the average salary of a professional enlisted man was 276 Euros and now it is 359 Euros. Non-commissioned officers had an average salary of 371 Euros and now they have 486 Euros. An officer received an average monthly salary of 558 Euros in 2011 and now they get 681 Euros,” Vulin said.  

According to the minister, a large number of new weapons system had been introduced into the Serbian military in 2018. “Last year we introduced 29 new weapons systems. We will continue investing in the weapons industry and equipping the military but we will primarily try to do that with the equipment we produce ourselves,” he said.  

Vulin said the Serbian military expects the first delivery of Airbus H-145 helicopters by the end of March. “We have two new Mi-17 helicopters and we will get three more as well as four Mi35. I expect the first H-145 late in March and that is the first of five as well as four more for the Serbian police,” he said and added that the air force has 10 MiG-29 fighters with the delivery of four more contracted with Belarus.  

Vulin was at Nikinci for a presentation of the anti-aircraft system Bofors-PASARS, the remote controlled Milos platform and 2T5 rocket.