Reuters reported that Russia's state development bank VEB was ready to invest into a joint venture of the Russian car maker Sollers and Ford.

Mr Vladimir Dmitriev VEB's chief executive said "We are ready to participate but we do not yet have an agreement with the partners."

Earlier in February, Sollers said it had dropped joint venture project with Fiat and instead would team up with Ford as the US car maker seeks to step up its presence in the booming Russian market.

Sollers and Ford are planning to take out a 10 year loan for USD 1.2 billion with two thirds of interest payments subsidized by the government.

(Sourced from Reuters)