Ford to halt production at Russian plantDecember 17, 2012 - 10:50 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S.-Russian joint venture Ford Sollers will halt production at its plant in near St. Petersburg from December 17 until the end of 2012 and will resume its operations on January 9 after holidays, a company spokesman said, according to RIA Novosti. The plant in Vsevolozhsk in the Leningrad region produces Ford Focus and Mondeo models. The plant, which was opened in summer 2002, employs about 2,700 workers. The company periodically suspended work at the Vsevolozhsk plant several times in November. The assembly of Ford Mondeo sedans was put on hold a month ago reportedly due to shortage of components. "The decision to halt production has been made in line with a comprehensive plan to change component delivery channels," the spokesman said. Some sources indicate, though, that the suspension may reflect the dwindling demand for Ford sedans on the Russian market. While the plant’s capacity is 125,000 cars a year, it produced about 99,000 vehicles in 2011 and was expected to make up to 119,000 this year. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Macron honors Charles Aznavour on 100th anniversary French President Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to the memory of French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour. Erdogan’s approval rating falls below 40 percent: survey A total of 53.4 percent of respondents said they disapprove of the performance of Erdoğan. Blinken says U.S. reviewing a number of aid requests from Armenia He said the U.S. is reviewing the requests to determine what more it can do to increase its assistance to Armenia. At least 2 CSTO members participated in preparing 44-day war against Armenia – PM Nikol Pashinyan has declared that at least two CSTO member countries participated in preparations for the 44-day war against Armenia. |