The prime minister inspected the production facilities, spoke with production line workers and congratulated employees of the plant on the launch of the new model. Prime Minister Putin put his signature on the hood of the first serial Lada Largus with the license plate number 000001 when it came off the conveyor.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s address:

Friends, I would like to congratulate everyone who was involved in the work on this new VAZ model on the beginning of its serial production.

AvtoVAZ is showing good performance results. Last year, you sold over 600,000 vehicles. Our automotive industry regained and went on to exceed pre-crisis sales levels. Russia holds a steady second place in Europe and fourth place internationally in car sales. And of course, AvtoVAZ makes a substantial contribution to the development of the Russian automotive industry, with over 66,000 first-class specialists working here. Twenty-three billion roubles were allocated for the development of AvtoVAZ from 2008 to 2011. In all, 169 billion roubles will be invested in AvtoVAZ by 2020, which means that AvtoVAZ has a great future ahead of it. Today, it accounts for 25 percent of Russia’s market and I’m sure it will maintain its market share in the future as well.

Let me congratulate everyone on today’s event and wish you success.