Pietz, Tobias, Rebekka Edelmann and Elvan Isikozlu. 2006 ‘Destruction Capacity - Ministry of Defense.’ SALW Survey of Croatia; Section 5.11 (Table 12), p. 50. Belgrade: South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC) / Bonn International Center for Conversion. 1 November

Relevant contents

Destruction Capacity

Whether or not arms are surplus and should be sold or destroyed is decided by the MoD upon suggestions of General Staff of the CAF. The decision of the MoD has to be based on the 'Regulation on Sales of Obsolete Weapons and Defence Equipment.

The MoD maintains a destruction facility in Zagreb. The so-called Remont Institution is staffed by 13 officers trained for weapons disposal. According to the MoD, these officers can destroy up to 160,000 weapons per year if they focus solely on this task.

However, the funds for such a task have not been available lately, as destruction has not been considered a priority of the Croatian Government within the last couple of years. From 2002 to 2005, only 6,389 weapons were destroyed under the auspices of the MoD. In the year 1998, however, the MoD destroyed over 12,000 weapons.

Table 12: Decommissioned and destroyed MoD weapons

Pistol
1995: 2
1996: 2
1997: 41
1998: 19
1999: 8
2000: 7
2001: 19
2002: 16
2003: 57
2004: 28
2005: 0
Total: 199

Machine Gun
1995: 103
1996: 33
1997: 429
1998: 5,149
1999: 641
2000: 754
2001: 1,328
2002: 37
2003: 205
2004: 701
2005: 45
Total: 9,425

Rifles
1995: 949
1996: 172
1997: 1,720
1998: 5,879
1999: 2,297
2000: 1,636
2001: 1,103
2002: 954
2003: 1,080
2004: 1,045
2005: 1,974
Total: 18,809

….

Total 1995: 1,054
Total 1996: 207
Total 1997: 2,190
Total 1998: 11,047
Total 1999: 2,946
Total 2000: 2,397
Total 2001: 2,450
Total 2002: 1,007
Total 2003: 1,342
Total 2004: 1,774
Total 2005: 2,019

TOTAL 1995-2005: 28,433

(Source: Provided by Col Mirko Kukolj of the MoD, 06 June 2006)

[SALW = small arms and light weapons; MoD = Ministry of Defense]

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