Following some diplomatic blowback, the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced this week that the country was halting all arms exports.
The announcement, delivered both by Vucic in an interview and a statement from the Serbian Ministry of Defense, lays out that all exports of weapons and military equipment manufactured in Serbia are suspended. Any future exports would require, "in addition to the consent of other competent ministries and agencies, the consent of the National Security Council."
The move comes as Serbia is catching heat from longtime ally Russia over munitions from the Balkan country appearing in Ukraine, possibly via third-party sources. This is exacerbated by reports that Belgrade also sold some 42.3 million euros' worth of arms to Israel. Iran, currently involved in a high-profile war with Israel, is a key Russian ally in the Middle East.
The news could have adverse effects on a couple of well-known brands in gun stores here in the States.
Chief among Serbia's firearms manufacturers is Zastava Arms, the historic government-owned gun concern located in Kragujevac, about 90 miles from Belgrade. Long tied to importers such as Century Arms to bring their products into the U.S., Zastava formed an Illinois-based American subsidiary in 2019, expanding its footprint. Last year's firearm import figures from Serbia show a more than 13 percent bump from the 46,799 firearms brought in from the country in 2020.
Zastava specializes in PAP series Kalashnikov variants and is one of the chief makers of European-made AKs on the American market.
Meanwhile, Prvi Partizan, based in Uzice, Serbia, is a huge manufacturer of ammunition and handloading components that have long been available to American consumers. Founded in 1928, PPU currently loads more than 160 types of rifle and handgun ammunition, many in obsolete or uncommon calibers, and was listed as the third-largest foreign ammo supplier to the U.S. a few years ago.
Several in-house brands for big box sporting goods stores often repackage PPU ammo, meaning consumers who are used to brands such as Monarch may soon find empty shelf space.
To be sure, even if the metaphorical export "pipes" from Serbia shut down immediately, each company's U.S. concerns likely still have deep stocks on hand already – a side effect of recent beef-ups over updates in tariffs – as well as containers waiting to clear customs, so a shortage may not be felt for weeks. However, should the pipes remain shut, that could change.
