Kalashnikov looking for diversification

ABU DHABI - Reuters

Kalashnikov Concern CEO Aleksey Krivoruchko holds a weapon. REUTERS Photo.

Russian firearms maker Kalashnikov Concern aims to concentrate on its markets in the Middle East and Africa and diversify its product range to offset the impact of Western sanctions, its chief executive has said.

“Sanctions changed sales. After that we had more sales of military weapons in new markets in the Middle East and Africa,” Aleksey Krivoruchko told Reuters at the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi.

“It is not just the AK-47, we are diversifying our strategy into a wide range of products - rockets, drones and others,” he said.

Both Kalashnikov and its majority owner, Rostec State Corporation, were among the companies made the subject of sanctions over Russia’s role in the Ukraine, where the West accuses Moscow of fanning separatist unrest and arming rebels.

Now the company has had to refocus its business on the military market, where it is looking to diversify, he said.