The country’s Deputy Defence Minister, Martin Bartak, said this yesterday after a meeting of the lower house defence committee. He said that Nigeria and Georgia were among the countries interested in the Czech L-159s. Other countries were Afghanistan, Indonesia, Bolivia and other South American countries. According to him, negotiations with the Nigerian military would probably continue after the inauguration of the new Nigerian president, scheduled for May 29. “After the inauguration, we would like to actively initiate further negotiations. We’re ready to go to Nigeria or to host a Nigerian delegation in its new lineup,” Bartak said.
A Nigerian military delegation that visited Prague, the country’s capital, in March, showed interest in the purchase of 10 to 15 planes worth millions of dollars, Bartak said. Georgia, too, is interested in buying 10 to 12 planes, Georgian representatives said during Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Toplanek’s, visit to Tbilisi last week. Georgian experts are to visit the Czech Republic in the weeks to come to discuss the issue. The L-159s are produced by Aero Vodochody, a company in Central Bohemia. The only customer to buy the planes so far is the Czech military which ordered 72 of them in 1997. The military later decided that it did not need so many of the planes and would keep only 24. It, therefore, decided to sell the remaining 47 to Nigeria and other countries. (tribune.com.ng)
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