French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen is planning to build a car plant in Russia, the head of the company's Russia business, Stephane Le Guevel, said in Moscow Thursday, according to dpa. An agreement with the Russian Economics Ministry was to be signed next week. The plant in Kaluga, near Moscow, was expected to open in 2010 with an annual production of up to 300,000 cars, Interfax news agency reported. Peugeot Citroen was still negotiating the cooperation of Japanese company Mitsubishi, Le Guevel said, but it was not planning to cooperate with any Russian companies. Kaluga would most likely become a production site for Peugeot mini-vans, but a final decision had not been made, according to Le Guevel. Only in November did German carmaker Volkswagen open a 500- million-euro plant in Kaluga, while Japanese car maker Toyota started operations at its first Russian plant near St Petersburg at the end of December. US company Ford has been producing cars at the site for years. French car maker Renault at the beginning of December took up a blocking minority in Russia's largest car maker Awtowas (Lada), while BMW, General Motors and KIA build cars in Kaliningrad. Russia is considered a rapidly-growing car market with large potential. Japanese competitors Nissan and Suzuki are also looking into the construction of their own plants in Russia.
