Michal Strnad with his arms factory CSG. Billions thanks to the war and the Czech arms company is directly in Ukraine
Last year, the Czechoslovak Group (CSG) corporation doubled in size. The remarkable continuous expansion has earned the group the title of one of the fastest-growing private arms manufacturers in Europe, and possibly the fastest-growing of all. The largest contributor to this is the subsidiary Excalibur Army, which was founded by Michal Strnad senior in 1995.
His company renovates old Soviet tanks and brings them back into operation. In addition, it also produces its own combat and military transport vehicles. The relentless conflict in Ukraine, which has shot demand for military equipment in Europe to unprecedented heights, repeatedly brings it record profits.
Money doesn't smell. Not even bloody ones
Given the current situation in Europe, it is no wonder that arms manufacturers are thriving. Their shares continue to rise, an example might be the German company Rheinmetall AG, which recorded a 500% increase over the previous three years in 2024. The German government's promise to invest in modernization of the army also works in its favor.
As for CSG, the holding already announced last year a tripling of revenues compared to 2021, to a staggering 1.73 billion euros (approximately 43.8 billion crowns).
In 2020, it strengthened its market position when it bought the Spanish large-calibre ammunition manufacturer Fabrica de Municios de Granada. The expansion continued in 2022 with the purchase of another company, this time the Italian small-calibre ammunition manufacturer Fiocchi Munizioni SpA. And that's not all. The latest catch is the American The Kinetic Group, taking us to even more dazzling figures.
"The Kinetic Group transaction was concluded at the end of November 2024 and contributed to the consolidated revenues of the CSG Group for 2024 for only one month. The consolidated revenue of the group thus reached 4 billion EUR (approximately 100 billion CZK, ed.note), which represents an increase of 131% compared to 1.7 billion EUR in 2023, mainly due to strong organic growth."
states in the press release CSG spokesperson Andrej Čírtek. This success did not go unnoticed. The globally known American magazine Bloomberg wrote about CSG last year.
How did it all start? From repairman to dollar billionaire
The year is 1995 and a man named Michal Strnad is fulfilling his boyhood dream. In the Moravian Šternberk, he opens his own factory for modernizing and repairing military equipment with a noble name. Later, he opens another branch in Přelouč in the Pardubice region, where he operates storage spaces.
Initially, it was just about buying old Russian tanks from the USSR era, in order to then get scrap metal from them for sale. After some time, he realized that the company has much higher potential and changed its business model. He turned to modernization of old tanks and production of his own combat vehicles or ammunition. He also resold spare parts to Africa. To date, the company has repaired more than 300 Russian T-72 tanks. About a hundred tanks went to Ukraine and since the beginning of the war, the production of ammunition has increased tenfold.
In 2011, when his son Michal Strnad Junior was just 21 years old, he involved him in the family business, and despite his young age, he gave him the position of executive director.
In 2023, he placed second in the ranking of the wealthiest people in the Moravian-Silesian region, thanks to his ownership of the Tatra Trucks, a producer of iconic off-road trucks based in Kopřivnice.
Huge fortunes and further growth
The next turning point came in 2018. That year, the company's founder and father of Michal Strnad junior decided to hand over his share. So he is no longer the CEO, but the owner and chairman of the board.
This step, according to the Forbes ranking, shot him to 6th place among the richest Czechs and 712th place in the global ranking of the richest people with an estimated wealth of 4.4 billion dollars (approximately 110 billion crowns, ed. note). Thanks to a lightning-fast move up hundreds of places, he became the high jumper of the year in the ranking.
"Michal Strnad is the owner of the Czechoslovak Group, a group where he has been operating for ten years now. As a 100% owner and chairman of the board, he primarily focuses on new acquisitions and key business projects. Under his leadership, the group has transformed into a diversified holding company operating in the automotive, railway, aviation and defense industries,"
states the CSG website.
Currently, the company employs over 14,000 people, brings together more than 100 companies, and operates over 30 manufacturing enterprises. Strnad Jr. has expressed his vision to be like the aforementioned Rheinmetall AG armaments factory. He also has a somewhat quirky plan - he wants to build an armory directly in Ukraine territory.
"We're not Rheinmetall yet, but we're catching up. I never even considered selling anything from my assets, even though I get offers every month. If I sold, what would I do with the money? I would have to go and buy something else, so what would be the point?"
The entrepreneur expressed this for the Moravian-Silesian daily.
Sources: author's text, CSG, Moravian-Silesian daily, HN, iDnes, Hrot24
