Russia Confirms/Denies 21,000 AvtoVAZ Job Cuts

The Russian government denied any decision being taken in favor of AvtoVAZ's plan to cut no less than 21,000 jobs in the following years, as an earlier Vedomosti business daily report claimed. The correction came from the First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov's office itself.

"The government knows what to do. Twenty thousand jobs will not be cut. We are talking about retraining, meaning that every employee will have a right to a job in other divisions or elsewhere in the city of Togliatti," the statement, quoted by Autonews said.

"It is no secret that the current situation in AvtoVAZ, from an economic point of view, requires significant job cuts. But social priorities remain constant."

As you can see, the official statement does not make matters any clearer than they were earlier today. Although not specifically saying the jobs will be cut, "having a right to a job in other divisions or elsewhere in the city of Togliatti" hints to another reality entirely.

What the statement does instead is reenforce the Vedomosti report, which said the Russian government was looking to develop a plan for the creation of a structure which will be in charge with handling the fired people. The plan calls for government backed financing for those in trouble until they can find another job.

As for finding another job in the city of Togliatti, we are sure local workers are all but grateful the government allows them to do so. The task will however not be easy, the nearly 800,000 inhabitants there rely heavily on AvtoVAZ or other affiliates for jobs. Despite the presence of petrochemical business there, non of them is of the scale of AvtoVAZ.