The Belgrade-based company Partizan Tech, owned by Serbian arms dealer Slobodan Tešić, recorded a profit of approximately €1 million in 2025, despite being under U.S. sanctions for years.
According to the company’s financial report, published on the website of the Serbian Business Registers Agency (APR), Partizan Tech also held significant receivables from foreign clients.
However, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) was unable to determine which countries the company exported to, as Serbian institutions do not disclose such data, and Partizan Tech did not respond to inquiries.
Serbia’s Ministry of Domestic and Foreign Trade, which issues permits for arms and military equipment exports, also failed to respond to questions from RFE/RL.
Tešić, described by U.S. authorities as one of the largest arms dealers in the Balkans, generated substantial revenue in a year when Serbian arms exports were suspended for eight months under directives issued by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
Vučić announced in 2025 that future arms exports would require special approvals.
Financial reports further reveal that several Serbian companies previously sanctioned by the United States due to links with Tešić were dissolved and merged into Partizan Tech.
Tešić has been under U.S. sanctions since 2017 for allegedly bribing officials to secure arms export contracts with multiple countries.
The sanctions froze all of his assets in the United States and prohibited U.S. citizens and entities from conducting transactions with him, effectively blocking exports to the American market.
The U.S. Treasury Department later linked him to former Serbian intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin, alleging that Vulin helped facilitate Tešić’s illicit arms trade.
Vulin himself is under U.S. sanctions over corruption allegations and ties to Russia.
Operating Despite Export Restrictions
Following Vučić’s instructions, Serbia suspended arms exports in June 2025 amid the Iran-Israel conflict and repeated accusations from Moscow that Serbian ammunition was reaching Ukraine through intermediaries.
According to information previously confirmed to RFE/RL by two state-owned arms factories, exports resumed in February 2026.
After years of losses, Partizan Tech posted a profit in 2025. In 2024, the company had recorded losses exceeding €1 million, continuing a trend of negative financial results from previous years.
The company was also identified as an arms exporter in a 2018 state audit report concerning the Serbian weapons manufacturer Prvi Partizan.
Partizan Tech is only one of several companies linked to Tešić that have faced U.S. sanctions.
Another sanctioned company, Technoglobal Systems, was shut down in 2018 and merged into Partizan Tech.
In 2019, the U.S. Treasury expanded its sanctions list to include additional firms linked to Tešić.
Companies such as Falcon Strategic Solutions, Vectura Trans, Araneks, and Velcom Trade were all merged into Partizan Tech during 2025 and 2026.
Profitable “Associated” Companies
Three additional Serbian defense-sector companies reportedly linked to Tešić also posted significant profits.
Valir, based in Belgrade, earned nearly €2 million in profit in 2025. Financial records show that most of its revenue came from exports.
Valir also provided Partizan Tech with a low-interest loan carrying an annual interest rate of just 0.1 percent.
Investigative network BIRN previously linked Valir to Tešić through individuals associated with him, alleging that the company was used to circumvent U.S. sanctions and facilitate arms sales.
Valir attracted public attention in 2021 after a Ukrainian cargo plane crashed in northern Greece while transporting training mortar shells to Bangladesh that had been purchased from Serbia’s state-owned arms factory Krušik.
Another company connected by media reports to Tešić is Zenitprom, which generated more than €900,000 in profit in 2025, largely from foreign sales.
Financial reports show that Zenitprom granted an interest-free loan to Partizan Tech in 2021.
Meanwhile, Sofag, owned by Tešić’s daughter Jelena Petrović, reported profits of approximately €940,000 and generated around €33 million in revenue from foreign sales.
None of the companies responded to questions regarding the countries to which they exported weapons.
Before the U.S. sanctions, Tešić had also spent nearly a decade on a United Nations blacklist for violating UN arms embargoes on Liberia.
Links to Aleksandar Vulin
Six years after Tešić was sanctioned, former Serbian intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin was also placed under U.S. sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Vulin in 2023 for alleged corruption, involvement in drug trafficking, and ties to Russia.
The Treasury’s statement specifically linked him to Tešić.
“Vulin maintained a mutually beneficial relationship with Serbian arms dealer Slobodan Tešić, helping Tešić’s illicit arms shipments move freely across Serbia’s borders,” the U.S. Treasury stated.
Currently, Vulin, leader of the Socialist Movement party, does not hold a government position.
Neither Partizan Tech nor Vulin’s Socialist Movement responded to questions regarding their alleged relationship.
Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
