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M80A infantry fighting vehicles

Slovenia sent the promised 35 M80A infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. Probably the equipment is already in Ukraine. This was reported by 24ur.com. In exchange for the equipment transferred to Ukraine, Slovenia will receive a voucher from the United States for the purchase of weapons for the amount that exceeds the cost of the equipment that was sent. In all likelihood, Ukraine will very quickly send Slovenian armored personnel carriers to the Eastern Front, where even such old weapon technology is used to defend against Russian aggression.

Slovenia, under Minister Matej Tonin, stopped a war profiteering attempt when the Administrative Court decided that the company S Lux was not allowed to resell these vehicles to the war zone. The agreement was carried out by the ministry of Marjan Šarc and, as it seems, with extremely favorable conditions for Slovenia. Slovenia will thus receive a substantial credit from the USA, which, according to our information, it will use for the equipment it needs for its operations. The Administrative Court gave a nod to the government with its decision regarding the sale of combat vehicles. BVP M80A vehicles were stored and conserved for many years among tanks and other armored vehicles near Pivka, and the deconservation took several weeks. Logistical problems prevented a faster expedition against Ukraine, most likely due to Hungary's ban on the transport of weapons to the east. To Vladimir Putin's great delight , Viktor Orban decided that military aid to Ukraine must go through Austria and Poland.

It is quite old military equipment that Slovenia inherited from Yugoslavia, it was manufactured by Yugoimport 40 years ago for the needs of the Yugoslav People's Army. The infantry fighting vehicle is an amphibious tracked vehicle with a crew of three soldiers and room for an armed section. It has a 20 millimeter cannon, a machine gun and Malyutk anti-tank missile launchers. Even today, Serbia still has more than 500 BVPs, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia have 100 each. The BVP M80 passed its baptism of war on the bloody battlefields of Yugoslavia, and Slovenia thus fulfilled its promise to Ukraine and contributed to its domestic defense.

As Defense Minister Marjan Šarec said Slovenia donated tanks to Ukraine: "It donated infantry fighting vehicles. 35 of these vehicles with a caliber of 20 millimeters, also of Yugoslav production. This has already been accepted and is in progress." As he said, other countries also donate, and Slovenia is no exception. These are old vehicles. In the past, Slovenia has donated infantry weapons, helmets, protective jackets... Slovenia has given quite a few of these. Our arsenal of what we can give is empty, Šarec said. As he added, Slovenia is committed to continuing to help: "We are strong in demining, which is important. This is a humanitarian matter, after every war the area must be demined, otherwise there are civilian casualties, we know how it is still today in Croatia and Bosnia. We can offer crew instructors for the Ukrainian army, after most likely on our territory or somewhere on NATO territory."

On 16 May 2022, the SLux company filed a lawsuit against the state at the Administrative Court, in which it proposed that the contested decision of the government, which prevents the sale of BVP M-80A infantry fighting vehicles, is illegal. But that did not happen, the court dismissed the lawsuit. As stated in the statement of reasons, the plaintiff challenges the government's decision, which is supposed to prevent the sale of combat vehicles, and with it he wants to achieve that the sale of these vehicles will be possible again. "Already from this, according to the judgment of the court, it follows that the prerequisites for contesting the said act in an administrative dispute have not been met ," they wrote. They also added that in the case under consideration, the plaintiff challenges the decision that prevents the sale of certain real property of the state. "Therefore, what is being contested is an act which, in terms of its content, means the defendant's decision on whether she will dispose of real property of the state. Such a decision, however, does not mean official action, as the plaintiff also claims in the lawsuit, but rather the action of the defendant as the owner of certain property. It is therefore an act business, and such acts are not administrative acts that could be contested in an administrative dispute."

As explained in court, on the basis of none of the aforementioned acts, the plaintiff could not obtain a right that could have been officially decided by the challenged act, since none of them decided that the said goods should be sold to the plaintiff. "These are only preliminary steps /.../"

According to the court, the plaintiff's expectation that the goods will be sold, citing a public auction, does not have the nature of a legally secured entitlement, which could be authoritatively decided by the contested act. The intention to sell the mentioned vehicles is several years old. At the beginning of the year, even before the start of the war in Ukraine, the company SLux found a buyer as an intermediary of the Ministry of Defense, namely they would be purchased by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, also through a Czech intermediary.

"We signed the contract and only after signing it we found out, with a simple sentence via e-mail, that the transporters are no longer for sale, without any explanation," said Nataša Starec . They prove their cooperation with the ministry through electronic communication, they say that the last step would be an auction, which they expected to win the deal. "With all such deals with MORS, it is impossible to do business any other way."

Uroš Korošec , director of the Logistics Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, says that there were no procedures and pre-agreed deals. "The equipment was on display, a few companies looked at it, but the actual business of the disposal process cannot be carried out because the vehicles are not permanently excluded from MORS." The Ministry of Defense emphasizes Article 77 of the Defense Act, which prevents sales to war zones. "Such sales through the company are not possible. However, a donation is possible through the Act on Service in the Armed Forces, but in that case there is no intermediary, it is a donation of the Armed Forces to a friendly army." Whether this actually happened in the case, neither the ministry nor the government, where this decision was supposed to be taken, do not comment, saying that it is a secret act.

At the same time, the ministry adds that any earnings would be illegal under the Defense Act and at the same time immoral. "I agree that they should be humanitarian, but the procedures for this are different, they must be transparent, they must be clear and public," Starceva replies.

On 16 May 2022, the SLux company filed a lawsuit against the state at the Administrative Court, in which it proposed that the contested decision of the government, which prevents the sale of BVP M-80A infantry fighting vehicles, is illegal. But that did not happen, the court dismissed the lawsuit. As stated in the explanation, the plaintiff is contesting the government's decision, which is supposed to prevent the sale of combat vehicles, and with it he wants to achieve that the sale of these vehicles will be possible again. "Already from this, according to the judgment of the court, it follows that the prerequisites for contesting the said act in an administrative dispute have not been met ," they wrote.

They also added that in the case under consideration, the plaintiff challenges the decision that prevents the sale of certain real property of the state. "Therefore, what is being contested is an act which, in terms of its content, means the defendant's decision on whether she will dispose of real property of the state. Such a decision, however, does not mean official action, as the plaintiff also claims in the lawsuit, but rather the action of the defendant as the owner of certain property. It is therefore an act business, and such acts are not administrative acts that could be contested in an administrative dispute."

The agreement was carried out by the ministry of Marjan Šarc and, as it seems, with extremely favorable conditions for Slovenia. BVP M80A vehicles were stored and conserved for many years among tanks and other armored vehicles near Pivka, and the deconservation took several weeks. Logistical problems prevented a faster expedition against Ukraine, most likely due to Hungary's ban on the transport of weapons to the east. To Vladimir Putin's great delight, Viktor Orban decided that military aid to Ukraine must go through Austria and Poland.

The Russians confiscated the first BVP M-80 armored vehicles that Slovenia donated to Ukraine in June 2022. A video showing destroyed Ukrainian combat equipment, mainly infantry fighting vehicles, armored vehicles and British-made MRAAP huskies, which were donated to Ukraine by Slovenia, the Netherlands and Great Britain, appeared on social networks, Serbian media reported 27 September 2022.

The video was allegedly recorded in Kherson. On it, it is possible to see the destroyed armored vehicles of the Ukrainian army, specifically of the Kraken battalion , an extreme nationalist formation. In addition to the BVP M-80, the video also shows British-made YPR-765 and MRAP Huski armored personnel carriers, which the country donated to the government in Kyiv.