ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/. Avtovaz has restarted the production of cars at Nissan’s former plant in St. Petersburg in cooperation with a Chinese manufacturer, with Lada Х-Cross 5 having becoming the first model, a TASS correspondent reports from the launch ceremony.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, Avtovaz President Maksim Sokolov and St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov participated in the ceremony.

"More than 100,000 cars per year will be produced here by 2027," Manturov said.

In February Avtovaz announced the closure of the deal to acquire the former Nissan plant in St. Petersburg (Nissan Manufacturing RUS LLC) that passed into Russia’s ownership earlier for 1 euro.