Venezuela signed an agreement with Russia on Tuesday to purchase 100,000 Russian-made Kalashnikov AK- 103 assault-rifles, Defense Minister Jorge Garcia Carneiro said.

The initial payment of 27 million US dollars will cover half of the contract, he said.

The first batch of 28,000 rifles, which cost 386.22 dollars each, will arrive in the country in October, and the remainder will be delivered in December and March 2006, according to the minister.

The contract includes a commercial offer by Russia to help build a factory to produce the assault rifle in Venezuela, he said.

There are also plans that 45 Venezuelan experts of the armed forces will be trained in Russia on how to make the assault rifle. .

Romania won the provisional approval from the EU on April 25 in Luxembourg to join the bloc on Jan. 1, 2007.

Source: Xinhua