The conditions for the delivery of weapons produced in Bosnia and Herzegovina were established in December 2013 when the entire Muslim defense industry was “memorandumly” taken over by the American company Howell Machine. The memorandum was signed on behalf of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) by FBiH Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić, Minister of Energy, Mining, and Industry Erdal Trhulj, and the owner and president of “Howell Machine Inc.,” David Howell.
DOMESTIC FACTORY – FOREIGN MANAGER
The minister proudly stated that significant strides had been made in the development of the defense industry in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) over the past three years. The volume of production had increased from around 40 million BAM in 2010 to 160 to 200 million BAM, expected in 2013—far exceeding the plans set out in the defense industry’s development strategy.
“We concluded that with what we currently have, we are reaching our maximum, and to make further progress, we need to find a strategic partner who will bring new technologies and new ways of managing the defense industry,” emphasized Trhulj. He added that one of the solutions is a strategic partnership with the company “Howell Machine, Inc.” This company had been present in Bosnia and Herzegovina for more than a year and had signed contracts with the companies “Igman” d.d. Konjic and “Unis Ginex” d.d. Goražde.
“The idea is that, based on this memorandum, a lease agreement with ‘Howell Machine, Inc.’ will be signed in the next few months for a period of 10 years, during which the Government of FBiH will remain the owner, while the American company will manage the companies ‘Igman’ Konjic, ‘Unis Ginex’ Goražde, ‘Binas’ Bugojno, PRETIS Sarajevo, and ‘Zrak’ Sarajevo,” Trhulj announced at the time.
From the minister’s address, it was revealed that the Government expects this agreement to increase employment in the defense industry, introduce new technologies and NATO standards, while “Howell Machine, Inc.” prioritizes profit.
“I think we have chosen the right partner, that we will gain new markets, and that we will accelerate the introduction of NATO technologies and the NATO codification system, as well as bringing Bosnia and Herzegovina closer to that alliance,” Trhulj emphasized.
“Howell Machine, Inc.,” based in Lewiston, Idaho, is an American company involved in the production, development, and trade of weapons, military equipment, and other defense technologies. In the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is recognized as the largest individual buyer of items from the production programs of the defense industry of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The signing of the memorandum on “control and supervision” of the defense industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina was attended by representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the sector responsible for issuing permits), the Intelligence-Security Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Government of FBiH, international organizations, and the Federal Directorate for the Defense Industry.
AMERICAN DETOUR INSTEAD OF A LEGAL PATH
Bosnia and Herzegovina has been given the opportunity to use a service network through which its defense industry has found itself in the arms supply chain for American needs. Despite the “sovereign will” often cited by the Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zukan Helez, the Americans, using the defense industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina, sent weapons to the Eastern Front.
Officially, however, Ukraine is not on the list of countries to which Bosnia and Herzegovina exports weapons and military equipment, as a decision to ban the sale of weapons to Ukraine was adopted at the state level about ten years ago due to the known and clear positions of representatives of the Republika Srpska in the joint institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
However, if it is not possible legally, weapons and ammunition from Bosnia and Herzegovina reach Ukraine via American detours. Weapons produced in Bosnia and Herzegovina are exported to certain NATO member states with an accompanying “corrected” end-user statement and then stored in warehouses from where they are further transported to Ukraine. As Ukrainians struggle on the front lines, the U.S. has intensified the “support channel.”
This involves not only a greater number of orders from factories in Bosnia and Herzegovina but also the removal of administrative barriers to the import of raw materials and supplies for the industry, which is becoming the backbone of exports. There are no moral dilemmas among Muslims in Sarajevo, while the political doubts among the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina are being mitigated by fabricated reports on the benefits and revenues from this trade, even though the Serbs gain nothing from it.
UNDER THE MINISTER’S JURISDICTION
Practically, in desperation, the West has recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina as potentially useful, and since then, many indicators have been changing, with the frequent repetition of the usual phrase that the defense industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been, for decades, one of the cornerstones of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian economy. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, this industry has been placed under the control of the Ministry of Industry, Energy, and Mining in the Government of the Muslim-Croat Federation, and exclusively under the jurisdiction of a Muslim minister.
SOMEONE ISN’T TELLING THE TRUTH
The fact that there are communication breakdowns between the bodies responsible for monitoring the export of weapons and military equipment from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that the understanding of the scope and routes of export is largely unclear, is confirmed by the response of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina (VTK) to a magazine’s inquiry about the quantity, value, and type of weapons and military equipment exported to war-torn states, Israel and Ukraine.
The response states that “in the first half of 2023, explosives worth 1.2 million BAM were exported to Israel, and in the second half of the year, no export of weapons and military equipment from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Israel was registered.” These data contradict those provided by the Ministry regarding the value and related to the issued export permits, and even more so with the indicators operated by the Indirect Taxation Authority.
The same applies to the statistics of the VTK – the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regarding the total export of the defense industry last year, which amounted to 408,109,905 BAM, almost twice as much as registered by the Indirect Taxation Authority!?
Discrepancies and conflicting figures are also related to the weapons and military equipment that are leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Ukrainian battlefield, so in the sea of contradictory claims, there are even those that state that Ukrainians are destroying cities in Russia with shells produced in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or that Ukrainians are fiercely defending themselves from Russian attacks thanks to weapons purchased from manufacturers in the completely controlled country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The footage of a Ukrainian soldier holding a “Pretis” company shell was treated by a large part of the domestic, especially the public in neighboring countries, as an undeniable, key piece of evidence that “Bosnia and Herzegovina is arming Ukraine,” although the Sarajevo company very unconvincingly tried to refute these claims by stating that it was a photo montage. However, as shown by the records of the Indirect Taxation Authority, which in this case aligns with those held by the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there was no legal export of weapons and military equipment from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Ukraine (nor to Russia) in 2023, as well as in the previous four years. Not directly, but through third parties and in violation of all regulations—yes.
EXPORT DESTINATIONS
The United States is listed as the main buyer of the defense industry, with more than a quarter of the total export value directed there. Buyers of the American company are falsely presented as the “American export market,” although this is actually about an intermediary role. Understandably so, because the structure of the exported weapons and military equipment from Bosnia and Herzegovina is neither needed by America nor used by the U.S. military.
According to the data from the Indirect Taxation Authority (UIO), in 2023, we sold revolvers and pistols to Americans for 384,804.75 BAM, other firearms for 75,519.91 BAM, parts and accessories for firearms worth 2,213,603.37 BAM, and mine-explosive devices and their parts and military ammunition for as much as 65,823,959.04 BAM. However, the indicators from the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina (VTK BiH) suggest that the total export of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s defense industry to the U.S. last year reached a value of 104,468,767 BAM.
According to the records of the VTK – Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina, when measured by the value of weapons and military equipment imported from our country, American buyers are followed by Turkish and Bulgarian companies, with shares of 11.87% and 10.55%, respectively, with import values of 48,428,022 BAM and 43,068,181 BAM. On the other hand, the Indirect Taxation Authority specifies that mine-explosive devices, their parts, and military ammunition worth 4,934,795.67 BAM were exported from Bosnia and Herzegovina through Turkish buyers last year. Revolvers and pistols were exported for a symbolic 6,828.71 BAM, while military weapons worth 1,029,766.58 BAM were exported through Bulgaria, along with mine-explosive devices, their parts, and military ammunition worth 36,145,833.42 BAM.
The UIO registered the export of 112,602.10 kilograms of military weapons (worth 9,076,845.02 BAM), 1,862.34 kilograms of revolvers and pistols (392,292.23 BAM), 2,653.41 kilograms of other firearms (192,934.51 BAM), 51,223.43 kilograms of parts and accessories for firearms (3,852,169.30 BAM), and 4,923,942.22 kilograms of mine-explosive devices, their parts, and military ammunition (227,630,062.13 BAM) in 2023.
The question that arises after reviewing the inconsistent reports from the Ministry of Trade of Bosnia and Herzegovina, VTK, and UIO is whether Turkey, Bulgaria, or the U.S. need any of the mentioned weapons. Obviously not. However, the mentioned weapons meet the needs of Ukraine, as evidenced by footage from the front lines serving as proof that political Sarajevo and the Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina have not stayed out of this conflict, just as they did not stay out of the conflicts in Syria, Libya, and Iraq.
IN THIS STORY – NO ONE IS INNOCENT
According to the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the coverage of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s imports by exports in the defense industry last year was an exceptionally high 493.22%. During 2023, the VTK recorded the import of weapons and military equipment into Bosnia and Herzegovina worth 82,743,973 BAM, of which 34,409,839 BAM, or 41.59%, came from Serbia.
Simultaneously, the Indirect Taxation Authority registered the import of weapons and military equipment totaling 24,498,291.30 BAM, dominated by bombs, grenades, and other mine-explosive devices from Serbia (4,290,057.09 BAM) and Egypt (3,307,684.93 BAM), as well as other firearms from Turkey (2,849,784.01 BAM).
In January 2024, the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina registered the export of weapons and military equipment totaling 12,285,647.78 BAM, mostly consisting of mine-explosive devices (12,255,096.15 BAM), mainly to the markets of Slovakia (9,314,742.09 BAM) and Poland (1,605,860.71 BAM). In the same month, Bosnia and Herzegovina spent 3,386,235.39 BAM on the import of weapons and military equipment, primarily purchasing Czech military weapons (1,069,464.74 BAM) and Serbian mine-explosive devices (993,001.79 BAM).
After a comparative analysis of the official data from the institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which mutually exclude each other, is there still room to question whether there are any innocent parties in the story of weapons exports to Ukraine?
