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Arsenal Co. [Bulgaria] |
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World ranking: outside the top 100 Arsenal Co., 100, Rozova Dolina St., 6100, Kazanluk, Bulgaria BACKGROUND In 1999 Arsenal was sold to its management team for $2.1m by the Bulgarian government as part of its privatisation programme. 2 What it makes Arsenal produces many models of assault rifles, grenade launchers and anti-aircraft guns including small quantities of NATO calibre weapons. 3 Its most notable weapon is the Kalashnikov, 'regarded as one of the East bloc's finest, and over 1 million of the submachine guns found their way from here (Bulgaria) to the armies and armed gangs of the world'. 4 Exports Once the Cold War ended, Bulgaria was left with huge stocks of arms that had no market in Eastern Europe. It turned its attention to other areas of the globe and, as a 1999 Human Rights Watch report noted, 'earned a reputation as an anything-goes weapons bazaar where Kalashnikov assault rifles, mortars, antitank mines, ammunition, explosives and other items are available for a price - no matter who the buyers are or how they might use the deadly wares.' 5 Arsenal was one of the beneficiaries of these deals. Saferworld quotes a 2001 Sofia Novinar article that reported that Arsenal 'sold arms for $7-8 million to Chad and Angola'. 6 And in 1998 the Sunday Times said it had obtained documents that allegedly named Arsenal as a supplier of arms to Sierra Leone in breach of a UN embargo. 7 Saferworld reports that, since 1998, the Bulgarian gov-ernment has 'repeatedly promised to tighten national control on arms trading to bring them into line with model international standards'. 8 There appears to have been some progress in terms of sales to Africa, but vast numbers of small arms and light weapons continue to flow out of Bulgaria. In 2000, a contract was reported to have been agreed for 300,000 Kalashnikovs for India and the following year Turkey received over 1,000 heavy machineguns from the Arsenal factory. 9
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