ST. PETERSBURG, July 31 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Economic Development and Trade Ministry and U.S. carmaker Ford Motors have signed an agreement on switching to industrial-scale assembly of cars at a plant in northwest Russia, a Ford of Europe vice president said Monday.
Wolfgang Schneider said Ford's plant in Vsevolzhsk, near St. Petersburg, had production capacity of 66,500 Ford cars per year, which would be increased to 73,000 by September.
The plant will produce around 65,000 cars in 2006, and could exceed 73,000 in 2007.
Dmitry Levchenkov, the deputy director of the plant's investment policy department, said earlier that the plant's current status, which allows it to import assembly parts duty-free, expired August 1 and that the new industrial production agreement would give Ford import duty concessions instead.
Ford said it was also considering producing the Ford Maverick at the plant, which was opened in 2002.
