OREANDA-NEWS. AvtoVAZ, one of Russia's largest carmakers, said Friday its net profit, calculated to Russian Accounting Standards, increased 79,4% in 2006, to 2,5 billion rubles ($96,97 million), year-on-year.

The carmaker said its net profits increase resulted from an improvement in core production, which is a priority for the company, and larger sales profitability. In January 2007 the AvtoVAZ board approved its 2007 budget, which envisages higher production rates, sales profitability, and profit growth. A strategy program for cutting expenses and raising production efficiency across all areas has been put forward to achieve these tasks. In 2007 AvtoVAZ expects to receive revenue of 165,7 billion rubles ($6,43 billion), reports RIA Novosti.