Aleksandar Obradović, an employee of Serbia’s state-owned arms manufacturer Krušik Valjevo, said he uncovered financial irregularities after Mladen Petković became the company’s general manager in 2014. He alleged that GIM, an arms intermediary represented by the father of Serbian government politician Nebojša Stefanović, purchased weapons from Krušik at prices so low they approached a loss. The source says GIM’s annual profit subsequently grew from a few million to more than one billion, although the allegations were not resolved through an indictment or court finding described here.
Obradović leaked sales documents to investigative journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva, whose reporting said weapons exported by GIM reached ISIS fighters in Yemen and called for Serbia to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia. On September 18, 2019, approximately ten Serbian security-agency agents arrested Obradović at his workplace on espionage charges and transferred him to Belgrade’s central prison. The Belgrade High Court moved him to house arrest on October 14; following protests in several cities and public pressure, he was released from house arrest on December 18, 2019. The investigation remained open without an indictment, and his suspension from Krušik reportedly left him unemployed.
