MOSCOW, July 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Imposing US sanctions on the Russian corporation Kalashnikov, which manufactures the world-famous AK automatic assault rifles, runs counter to the interests of American customers, a spokesman for Kalashnikov told ITAR-TASS.

“For Kalashnikov, which is a subsidiary of the Rostecnologies state corporation, the US is an important market for selling arms,” the spokesman said. “It should be noted that the Kalashnikov products are very popular in the US, and the amount of prepaid orders for arms there is three times as big as the annual supplies volume.”

“This means that the sanctions the US Administration has imposed on Kalashnikov contravene the interests of US consumers,” he said.

Kalashnikov Consortium is the largest producer of automatic and sniper combat arms, guided artillery shells and non-military products. It exports arms and tools to 27 countries, including the US, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Italy, Canada, Kazakhstan and Thailand.