MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport will fulfill all its obligations under a contract to launch the production of Kalashnikov assault rifles in Venezuela, a company spokesperson told TASS.

"Rosoboronexport always fulfills its contract obligations. The timeframe to launch the plant has been clarified and nothing will prevent these plans from being implemented within the agreed timeframe," a spokesperson said, when asked whether construction plans would be changed in light of the current political situation in Venezuela.

The plant that will assemble Kalashnikov assault rifles is being constructed under a contract signed in July 2006. The full-fledged licensed production of the AK-103 assault rifle is expected to be launched at the facility. According to plans, the plant will manufacture about 25,000 assault rifles annually, while an ammunition plant will produce more than 50 million every year.

In December 2016, then Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that both plants would become fully operational in 2019. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez confirmed the timeframe following talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in April 2018.

 

Situation in Venezuela

 

On January 23, Venezuelan parliament speaker and opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas on Wednesday. Several countries, including the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Paraguay, have recognized him. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US.

Russia, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua and Turkey voiced support for Maduro, while China called for resolving all differences peacefully and warned against foreign interference. The United Nations secretary general, in turn, called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.