Over the following seven years, Slovenia intends to spend 1.2 billion euros for modernization, new weaponry, and two new battalion battle groups. Meanwhile, it is selling old weapons and other outdated equipment.

At an auction last week, the Ministry of Defense (MORS) put old utility vehicles and trucks dating back to the Yugoslav era on the auction block. Monday was the deadline for the sale of M-55S tanks with spare parts and equipment, ammunition, smoke grenades, and explosive reactive armor.

The tanks sold by MORS are also former Yugoslav vehicles. They remained in Slovenia after the Yugoslav forces left the country. In the mid-1990s, the Ministry of Defense, which was led by Jelko Kacin at the time, decided to upgrade the vehicles. The process, which was completed with the cooperation of Israeli companies and lasted until 2001, cost more than 52 million euros. The 30 restored tanks were initially intended to be operated until 2015, but they were retired from “active duty” in 2006 and mothballed.

MORS put the tank up for sale in three lots. The starting price of two lots consisting of 13 tanks was 2.65 and 2.6 mullion euros. Meanwhile, the starting price for a tank, along with ammunition and smoke grenades, was 820,000 euros. MORS received just a single offer: for the tank with ammunition and other equipment that was sold for the starting price of 820,000 euros.