Production was halted Tuesday afternoon and resumed Wednesday morning, but stopped several hours afterwards.

'We are negotiating with the suppliers, and as soon as we reach an agreement we will resume production,' Sidoruk said.

The Togliatti plant was idle for several days in early February when the suppliers halted deliveries, urging AvtoVAZ to pay them in cash.

The car maker, whose models include the iconic Lada, is suffering from low sales as the financial crisis dents the country's wealth.

AvtoVAZ sold 29,000 cars in January this year, compared to a monthly average of 50,000 to 60,000 cars before the financial crisis.

The company is believed to be heavily in debt. It owed 18 billion rubles ($497 million) at the end of September, but AvtoVAZ president Boris Alyoshin insisted last month that the company was doing well despite problems with cash flow.

Until the production halt, AvtoVAZ operated with one shift four days a week. Employees not involved in manufacturing have been put on leave at two-thirds pay.

Healthcare and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova announced Wednesday that 3,200 AvtoVAZ employees are expected to be laid off soon, Russian news agencies reported.

Some 12,500 are currently on forced unpaid leaves, she said at the upper house of the Russian parliament

The state corporation Russian Technologies owns a quarter of AvtoVAZ after selling a 25 percent stake to Renault last year. Investment bank Troika Dialog owns another 25 percent. The remaining quarter is floated on the market.