The Czech Republic is negotiating a possible deal with Georgia to sell at least ten L-159 advanced light combat aircrafts, the Czech news agency, CTK, reported on May 13.

The final decision on whether or not to buy the aircraft will be made in the next two months, CTK quoted First Deputy Defense Minister Martin Bartak.

Bartak was in a Czech delegation led by Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, which visited Georgia on May 10-12.

A business partner of the Czech government in the deal with Georgia is Omnipol company.

General Director of Omnipol Michal Hon said that although the Georgian side had expressed an interest, it was not yet clear whether the deal would be finalized, according to CTK.

The Czech army bought a total of 72 L-159s in 1997. The aircraft is produced by Aero Vodochody.

According to Defense Ministry of the Czech Republic, the government decided in 2004 to sell 47 of them.

Another Czech news agency, Prague Daily Monitor, reported that Ceska Zbrojovka factory had reached a preliminary agreement to sell 4,000 firearms to Georgia. But the deal still needs to be finalized, Lubomir Kovarik of Ceska Zbrojovka, who was also in the delegation in Tbilisi, said, according to the Prague Daily Monitor.

According to the report, the visiting Czech prime minister, Topolánek, told his Georgian counterpart, Zurab Nogaideli, that his government would not oppose issuing a license to the Czech arms maker to supply firearms to Georgia.

No immediate comment was available from the Georgian Defense Ministry on these possible deals.

The Georgian government recently proposed to increase the 2007 defense spending budget from the current GEL 513.2 million to GEL 957.8 million (about USD 566.7 million).

Levan Nikoleishvili, the deputy defense minister, told lawmakers on May 1 that most of the additional funding for the Defense Ministry would be spent on the purchase of weaponry and ammunition.