Chief of Russia's biggest carmaker Avtovaz to quit

Russia's biggest carmaker Avtovaz, majority owned by Renault-Nissan, said yesterday its chief executive Bo Andersson is to step down.

Hit hard by Russia's economic crisis, the company, which makes Lada cars, has been battling with bankruptcy fears since last month reporting a tripling of net losses for 2015.

The company's board is to meet on March 15 to pick a successor who "will take the reorganization into a new operational phase," it said. Net losses in 2015 amounted to 73.8 billion rubles ($928 million), nearly triple the 2014 figure of 25 billion rubles.