Russia loans $2.2 billion to Venezuela for tanks and missiles purchase

Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez said Russia had offered his country a $2.2 billion loan to buy tanks and advanced missiles. He reportedly said this in a television show in the capital Caracas on Sept. 13. Venezuela will buy 92 T-72 tanks and several T-90s from Russia, as well as S-300, Buk-M2 and Pechora anti-aircraft missile systems, Chavez said. The S-300 system can track up to 100 targets, including cruise missiles, while engaging six simultaneously at a range of 200 kilometers. Chavez also said Caracas would buy Russia's Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems. The terms of the loan and the weapons delivery are not yet clear. Venezuela has ordered 24 Su-30MK2 fighters; more than 50 Mi-17V, Mi-35M and Mi-26T helicopters; 12 Tor-M1 missile systems; and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles from Russia. Moscow and Caracas signed a contract in 2006 to build a plant producing Kalashnikovs in Venezuela under the Russian license.