A major political scandal broke out in Slovakia after documents were made public indicating that components of the Soviet 2K12 Kub (SA-6) air defense systems may have been sold at a symbolic price as scrap metal and subsequently resold to Uganda.
Former Slovak Minister of Defense Jaroslav Naď (Democratic Party) published a contract between the Slovak company Robus and a Romanian intermediary, in which the Ministry of Defense of Uganda is listed as the end recipient. According to him, state property that was supposed to be scrapped as metal for around €300 per ton (tens of thousands of euros) later appeared in a deal worth more than €11 million.
Defense Minister Robert Kalinák (Smer party) confirmed that the equipment was transferred to a private company under a program to dispose of excess property. However, he denies any loss of the army’s combat capability, stating that the number of operational Kub batteries remains unchanged. The minister struggled to explain the price difference between “scrap” and the multi-million-euro agreement, noting that the private company could have upgraded the equipment.
The scandal has been particularly painful for Robert Fico’s government, which has repeatedly criticized the previous administration for transferring weapons to Ukraine and promised to strengthen Slovakia’s defense. The opposition accuses the authorities of opaque disposal of state property and possible significant shortfalls in budget revenues.
The opposition is now demanding the publication of all contracts and the launch of a parliamentary investigation.