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Russia accuses Bulgaria over illegal Kalashnikov sales

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"Russia loses billions of dollars from illegal production of the Kalashnikov assault rifles in Bulgaria," said Sergei Ivanov, who is also deputy prime minister.
ZELENOGRAD, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia suffers major losses from the counterfeit manufacture of Kalashnikov assault rifles in Bulgaria, the defense minister said Tuesday.

The armies of 47 countries use the AK-47 assault rifle, known as the Kalashnikov after designer Mikhail Kalashnikov. About 100 million AK-47s and modifications are believed to circulate around the world, but many of them are produced illegally.

"Russia loses billions of dollars from illegal production of the Kalashnikov assault rifles in Bulgaria," said Sergei Ivanov, who is also deputy prime minister.

An official from Rosoboronexport, Russia's state-controlled arms exporter, said in April that Bulgaria's Arsenal Company had displayed a wide range of counterfeit Kalashnikov assault rifles at the DSA 2006 arms show in Malaysia.

He said that the annual illegal sales of unlicensed small arms on the international market totaled about $2 billion, with counterfeit Kalashnikov assault rifles accounting for 80-90% of the volume.

"We must take a tougher stand to protect the rights of our intellectual property owners," Ivanov said.

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