Croatia’s Cateks Lands €35 Million Defence Textiles Deal — Elevating European Military Fabrics Capability
Croatia’s Cateks has signed a €35 million multi-year contract with state-owned Agencija Alan to supply military fabrics for a NATO member’s defense ministry, underscoring Europe’s drive to strengthen its own defense-industrial supply chain.
ZAGREB — Croatian textile producer Cateks d.d. has signed a €35 million multi-year contract with state-owned defense company Agencija Alan for the delivery of advanced fabrics and materials used in military uniforms, the company announced in a bourse filing on Tuesday.
The end user of the materials is the defense ministry of a NATO member state, Cateks said, without revealing which country. The contract underscores a growing demand within NATO supply chains for reliable European textile producers capable of meeting stringent defense standards for durability, flame resistance, and environmental performance.
Founded in Čakovec in 1874, Cateks is one of Southeast Europe’s oldest textile manufacturers and has in recent years reoriented a significant portion of its production toward technical and protective fabrics for defense, police, and emergency services. Its “Čateks Defend” and “Čateks Protect” lines are already in use by several European armed forces and security institutions.
Agencija Alan, the state-owned company that brokered the deal, serves as Croatia’s central agency for the import and export of weapons, ammunition, and specialized military equipment. In recent years, it has also expanded into facilitating high-value contracts for non-lethal defense materials and logistics.
While the buyer remains undisclosed, defense sources suggest that Croatia’s textile industry has become an increasingly valuable niche supplier for NATO member states seeking diversified, EU-based production capacity for military gear amid heightened geopolitical tensions and global supply disruptions.
The Cateks-Alan agreement marks one of the largest defense-related textile deals ever concluded by a Croatian manufacturer and further positions the country as a growing contributor to Europe’s defense-industrial base.
“This contract reaffirms our position as a trusted European partner for high-performance military textiles,” a Cateks representative said in a brief statement following the announcement.
The deal comes as the European Union intensifies efforts to strengthen its internal defense supply chains, encouraging member states to source critical materials and equipment from within the bloc.
