MOSCOW, November 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's ailing automaker AvtoVAZ requires an additional 5 billion rubles ($170 million) in investment to make competitive products, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

Putin said the government had earlier made a decision on financial aid to AvtoVAZ amounting to 38 billion rubles ($1.3 billion) to cover the auto giant's debts, 12 billion rubles ($412 million) for new production lines and 4.8 billion rubles ($165 million) for AvtoVAZ's social sphere, including the creation of temporary jobs.

AvtoVAZ, which dominates the economy of the Volga city of Togliatti, earlier announced plans to cut its 100,000-strong workforce by over 25%.

Meanwhile, Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Khristenko said that the Russian government would allocate an additional 3 billion rubles ($100 million) for the purchase of Russian-made cars for the needs of ministries and departments in an effort to support the domestic auto industry.

Khristenko said that the 3 billion rubles would be in addition to the 12.5 billion rubles ($427 million) already spent this year on the purchase of vehicles for the Interior Ministry, Defense Ministry, Emergencies Ministry and Health Ministry.