MOSCOW, March 26. /TASS/. Nissan plans to suspend production of cars at a plant in St. Petersburg as part of the announced paid week off, an official representative of the company told TASS.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree declaring a paid week off in the country from March 30 to April 3.

"We will most likely stop the plant next week, now the procedures necessary for this are underway," he said.

Previously, the plant also announced transition to work in one shift for several months due to the difficult situation in the car market.

According to the Association of European Businesses (AEB), sales of Nissan cars in Russia in 2019 fell by 20% to 65,000 vehicles. In February 2020, the company sold 5,700 vehicles, which is 7% lower than last year's results.

On March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that Russians will have a paid week off due to the coronavirus pandemic, the extended public holiday will last from March 28 to April 5. "Now it is of utmost importance to prevent the disease from spreading quickly, therefore, I declare that the next week will be a paid holiday. It means that the weekend will take place between March 28 and April 5," he said addressing the nation. The leader warned Russians that the coronavirus pandemic should not be taken lightly.

The coronavirus outbreak was recorded in central China in late December 2019. More than 150 countries have been hit by this infection, which was labeled as a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. According to the latest data, over 457,000 people have contracted the virus, and more than 21,000 have died.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in Russia has grown by 182 over the past 24 hours and currently amounts to 840, coronavirus cases have been recorded in 56 regions.