Ukraine conflict makes Czech arms dealer rich — RT World News

The owner and head of the Czechoslovak Group (CSG), Michal Strnad, is now a billionaire and is reaping profits from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

The company has seen its revenues soar amid the conflict, with its profits nearly doubling in 2022 to about $1 billion and nearly doubling again last year to $1.9 billion. One division of the conglomerate, Excalibur Army, contributed significantly to profits, manufacturing munitions as well as building new weapons and refurbishing old Soviet weapons.

In the midst of the conflict, the company supplied Kiev with about 100 T-72 main battle tanks. Bloomberg noted that CSG's ammunition production has grown more than tenfold since the escalation of long-running hostilities between Moscow and Kiev in early 2022, with its workforce nearly tripling to 10,000 across manufacturing sites in eight countries.

The arms manufacturer is looking to profit from the Russia-Ukraine conflict for years to come and appears to be very open about it. Strnad believes that the highest demand for weapons in Europe since the end of the Cold War will remain.

“Even if the war ended tomorrow, it would take years to replenish empty stockpiles, let alone pay to boost defense spending and increase production.” Strnad said, according to Bloomberg. “I'm confident there will be strong demand for a long time to come.”

The company was originally founded by Strnad's father, Jaroslaw, in 1995, who originally sought to buy decommissioned military equipment from members of the defunct Warsaw Pact – countries that had recently joined NATO – to dispose of and sell for profit. However, the real profit turned out to be in arms handling, as the company immediately discovered high demand for spare parts as well as refurbished items of Soviet-era military equipment.

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