Serbia to Get 8 MiG-29 Fighters, 2 Buk Missile Systems From Belarus

Serbia will get eight Mikoyan MiG-29 twin-engine fighters and two Buk missile systems as a gift from Belarus, Serbian Defense Minister Zoran Dordevic told the Politika Serbian daily newspaper.

BELGRADE (Sputnik) – The deliveries, provided on a no-pay basis under the condition that Serbia cover repair and modernization expenses, are expected to be completed in 2018, Dordevic said.

"We will also negotiate the purchase of the famous S-300 [long range surface-to-air missile] systems with Belarus," Dordevic told Politika, specifying that he was talking about the S-300P and S-300V versions that Belarus has.

According to the Serbian defense minister, the details of Serbia-Belarus cooperation in the sphere will be discussed starting from May 2017.

Serbian Prime Minister Alexander Vucic headed a government delegation that visited Belarus on January 26-27. One of the documents signed during the visit was an intergovernmental agreement on military-technical cooperation.

The MiG-29 fighter jets, developed in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, are currently used in over two dozen countries. The Buk missile system was developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s.