MOSCOW, August 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's largest carmaker, AvtoVAZ [RTS: AVAZ], said Thursday its production had fallen 4.1% in the first half of 2007, year-on-year, to 412,041 cars.
The company earlier reported its sales on the domestic market in January-July 2007 decreased 8.6% year-on-year, but posted an increase in net profit, calculated to Russian Accounting Standards, during the same period by 90% year-on-year, to 5.1 billion rubles ($196 million).
The company also said it was expecting to post earnings totaling 165.7 billion rubles ($6.46 billion) in 2007.
The trade union at AvtoVAZ held a strike at the plant August 1 demanding a considerable pay raise that gathered 150-600 people, according to various estimates. However, the company administration said it considered the strike a violation of labor legislation.
