President's "fortress on wheels" Mercedes "needs repairs"

President's "fortress on wheels" Mercedes "needs repairs"

BELGRADE -- It will cost RSD 12.2 million (some EUR 100,000) to repair President Tomislav Nikolic's official car, a Mercedes S, the daily Vecernje Novosti is reporting.

The car needs a new engine with batteries, as well as differentials and one shock absorber, the paper said, explaining that they obtained the report from the Ministry of the Interior (MUP).

A tender is currently in progress to buy the parts. Until the Mercedes has been repaired, Nikolic will be using a 1997 BMW - one of the oldest among the vehicles used by state officials.

Asked whether Nikolic's safety was in any way compromised, MUP representatives said they "had no information about that."

The Mercedes in question was bought in 2010 when Boris Tadic served as Serbia's president and cost EUR 620,000.

The car can be submerged under water and withstand an explosion. It is equipped with oxygen bottles and has armored windows and even tires, "that can continue for 100 kilometers after being impacted."

Spare parts for this car "must be ordered and cost a lot more than for ordinary Mercedes models," the daily observed.

Unlike this "fortress on wheels," the BWM the president is currently using is "much sparser" when it comes to special equipment - it only has armored windows.