Kalashnikov Concern, the small arms manufacturer most famous for the AK-47 assault rifle, has said it’s benefited from Western sanctions by finding other markets to replace lost sales to the U.S.
Alexey Krivoruchko, Director General of Kalashnikov Concern, told RIA Novosti that although the company took an initial hit from the U.S.-backed sanctions, it’s since managed to turn things around and is now far better off than before.
“[Anti-Russia] sanctions have had an impact on us but we actually gained more good from it,” Krivoruchko said. “We have found other markets and are selling our products at better prices… The concern has managed to completely substitute sales previously targeted at the US market.”
Anti-Russian sanctions were imposed by Washington last year, affecting many of the country’s defense, banking and energy companies. The sanctions were introduced as a response to Russia’s perceived role in the Ukrainian armed conflict.
But while the U.S. was an important market for Kalashnikov, the concern has made up for the lost sales in record time by targeting markets in Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia and Latin America, Krivoruchko said. Those markets now account for almost 80 percent of the company’s sales, he added.
Krivoruchko’s comments come just a day after the Kalashnikov Concern announced it was to buy controlling stakes in two Russian defense industry suppliers – Allmulticam, a supplier of tactical clothing and military equipment to the Russian special forces, and The Special Protection Equipment Center, a Nizhny Novgorad-based manufacturer of protective clothing that supplies the Federal Security Service and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, among other customers.
Following those acquisitions, the company said it was planning to launch a Kalashnikov-branded line of tactical clothing and special equipment it would target at the special forces of Russia and other CIS countries.
Kalashnikov Concern was created in 2013 following a merger between the Izhevsk Machinebuilding Plant and the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant. It henceforth became the largest small arms manufacturer in Russia.
The new company has exported arms to more than 27 countries since the merger, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Italy, Canada, Kazakhstan and Thailand. Prior to the sanctions, Kalashnikov sold around 200,000 guns to the U.S. each year, Krivoruchko said.
Source: RIA Novosti via Sputnik News
Image credit: brian.ch via Flickr.com
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