IZHEVSK, May 31 (Itar-Tass) - The Kalashnikov Concern, which brand is well known over the world, will unite two industrial facilities in Izhevsk. The new concern will be registered in July.
“After July 1, we shall file documents for registration, and 5-10 days later we shall celebrate that we become the Kalashnikov Concern,” Izhmash’s Director General Konstantin Busygin told a news conference on Friday.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told reporters that Mikhail Kalashnikov had filed a written consent to have his name used, and now all the necessary documents are with Rospatent /a registrar/.
“Mikhail Kalashnkov is a true patriot,” Rogozin said. “This person is the country’s pride.”
The plant’s director stressed Izhmash will remain the concern’s core enterprise, and the other facilities will be joining the corporation gradually.
“If done mechanically, we may receive an overburdened structure,” Busygin said. “Thus, we have decided to make everything gradually.”
Rogozin explained it would require Izhmash and Izhmekh at least one year to get merged into one legal entity, but this way the process would not affect the work.
“Simply, we shall have two facilities - two plants, where people, shops remain unchanged,” the director general said.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin during his meeting with President Vladimir Putin suggested merging into a single concern the plants Izhmash and Izhmekh, which are both involved in production of small arms. According to Rogozin, the Kalashnikov Concern will focus the efforts in production of civil arms and in preservation of the design potential in Izhevsk. Five months earlier, Konstantin Busygin became Izhmash’s director general and began the process of the merger.
Izhmash is Russia's largest producer of military automatic and sniper weapons, guided artillery shells, as well as of a wide range of civil products - shotguns, sporting rifles, machines and tools. Izhmash exports its products to 27 countries, including the US, the UK, Germany, Norway, Italy, Canada, Kazakhstan and Thailand.
Izhmekh is a diversified technology company with technologies of engineering, metallurgy, instrumentation, microelectronics, which produces civilian and service weapons, electric equipment, oil and gas and packaging equipment, medical equipment, and precision steel castings. The plant’s priority development and a major stake in production are sporting and hunting rifles and pistols.