WEAPONS FACTORY WORKERS WAIT FOR DECISION

B92, Serbia
Dec 28 2006

BELGRADE, KRAGUJEVAC — Zastava weapons factory workers are in their
fourth day of protests.

They will also be considering the possibility of a radicalization of
the strike.

They are expecting a decision from the Serbian Government today,
on whether it will pay the workers the damages they are demanding.

Serbian President Boris Tadić said that Kragujevac has sent its
own envoy to Russia to discuss the possibility of exporting weapons
from the Zastava factory to Armenia again.

Tadić said that he expects word on the discussions with Russia
in a couple of days.

While factory Director Dragoljub Grujović claims that the factory
did not make its own agreement for weapons exports to Armenia, Serbian
Defense Minister Zoran Stanković told B92 that the factory did
not have all of the needed licenses from the state to facilitate
exports to Armenia.

He said that in the last year, the Serbian made decisions to write-
off over 2 billion dinars to the factory in order to help it out.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress