Editing AvtoVAZ (section)

===After privatization===
[[File:GM-AVTOVAZ.JPG|thumb|left|[[GM-AvtoVAZ]] plant in [[Tolyatti]], Russia]]
In June 1991, [[Bear Stearns]] was hired by the Soviet government to conduct an appraisal of AvtoVAZ and negotiate a venture with a Western partner, in preparation for the privatization of the company.<ref>{{cite news|title=A Light At End Of The Turmoil|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/09/22/a-light-at-end-of-the-turmoil/|access-date=5 July 2017|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|language=en}}</ref> An independent trade union was started during the same year, as workers deemed the traditional trade union to be too close to the interests of management.<ref name="uchi">{{cite news|last1=Uchitelle |first1=Louis |title=Russia's Motor City – A special report.; Russian Auto Maker Follows A Survival Blueprint: Exports |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/23/world/russia-s-motor-city-special-report-russian-auto-maker-follows-survival-blueprint.html?pagewanted=all |access-date=5 July 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=23 July 1992 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929081510/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/23/world/russia-s-motor-city-special-report-russian-auto-maker-follows-survival-blueprint.html?pagewanted=all |archive-date=29 September 2009 }}</ref>

In January 1993, AvtoVAZ was re-established as a joint-stock company under Russian law.<ref name="historyvaz">{{cite web|title=Волжский автомобильный завод |url=http://nashi-avto.ru/ru/vaz/s/%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%B7.html |publisher=Nashi Avto |access-date=25 April 2017 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426151717/http://nashi-avto.ru/ru/vaz/s/%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%B7.html |archive-date=26 April 2017 }}</ref> The company came to be controlled by the management, including [[Vladimir Kadannikov]], head of AvtoVAZ.<ref name="glazunov72"/> It was listed on the [[Moscow Exchange]].<ref name="swlearn">{{cite web|title=International Business, Update 2003 Cases General Motors and AvtoVAZ of Russia|url=http://www.swlearning.com/marketing/czinkota/int_mkt_7e/cases/General%20Motors%20and%20AtvoVAZ%20of%20Russia.doc|publisher=Swlearning|access-date=6 July 2017}}</ref> As with many other privatized post-Soviet companies, the financial situation at AvtoVAZ was dire, with workers being unpaid for months at a time.<ref name="glazunov13"/>

In 1994, [[Boris Berezovsky (businessman)|Boris Berezovsky]]'s dealership company, called [[Logovaz]], accounted for nearly 10% of the domestic sales of AvtoVAZ.<ref name="klebnikov00">{{cite news|last1=Klebnikov |first1=Paul |title=The Rise Of An Oligarch |url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2000/0904/6606089a.html |access-date=1 July 2017 |work=Forbes |date=4 September 2000 |language=en |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010142931/http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2000/0904/6606089a.html |archive-date=10 October 2014 }}</ref> Despite the state of the Russian economy at the time, demand for AvtoVAZ cars remained buoyant, but widespread corruption in the distribution network led the company to accumulate massive debts.<ref name="klebnikov00"/>

The [[Lada 110|110-series]] sedan was introduced in 1995, two years after its original 1993 deadline.<ref name="uchi"/> Development costs for the car were estimated at $2 billion.<ref name="irehitt">{{cite book|last1=Ireland|first1=R. Duane|last2=Hoskisson|first2=Robert|last3=Hitt|first3=Michael|title=Understanding Business Strategy: Concepts and Cases|date=2005|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=032428246X|page=142|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WmdsrKwYYNQC&pg=RA1-PA142|language=en|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925121559/https://books.google.com/books?id=WmdsrKwYYNQC&pg=RA1-PA142|archive-date=2017-09-25}}</ref> The 2111 station wagon followed in 1998 and the [[Lada 112|2112 hatchback]] completed the range in 2001.

By 1995, car sales, distribution, and spare parts at AvtoVAZ were all controlled by criminal organizations.<ref name="glazunov13">{{cite book|last1=Glazunov|first1=Mikhail|title=Business in Post-Communist Russia: Privatisation and the Limits of Transformation|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135021504|page=81|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X9xJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA81|language=en}}</ref> This situation was made possible by the close relationship that existed between the criminals and part of the management.<ref name="glazunov13"/> Additionally, gangsters were used to control the workers and break strikes.<ref name="glazunov13"/>

By late 1996, AvtoVAZ had become the country's largest tax debtor, owing $2.4 billion in unpaid taxes.<ref name="slowdeath">{{cite news|title=Slow Death|url=http://old.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/tmt/289213.html|access-date=1 July 2017|work=The Moscow Times}}</ref> In 1997, the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Russia)|Ministry of Internal Affairs]] launched Operation Cyclone,<ref name="klebnikov00"/> an investigation that ultimately uncovered evidence that gangsters connected to AvtoVAZ had carried out at least 65 murders of company managers, dealers, and business rivals.<ref name="klebnikov00"/>

The [[1998 Russian financial crisis]] improved the company's market position, by improving the effectiveness of export sales and making imported cars too expensive for most Russians.<ref name="swlearn"/> The VAZ-2120 [[Lada Nadezhda|Nadezhda]], a minivan based on the Lada Niva, was introduced in 1998. In the second half of the 1990s, some efforts were made to improve the quality of production, but in 1999, nearly 50,000 cases of cars were still being assembled with missing parts.<ref name="glazunov86">{{cite book|last1=Glazunov|first1=Mikhail|title=Business in Post-Communist Russia: Privatisation and the Limits of Transformation|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135021504|page=86|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X9xJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA86|language=en}}</ref>

In 2001, [[GM-AvtoVAZ]], a joint venture with [[General Motors Corporation|General Motors]], was established.<ref>{{cite news|title=GM agrees to form joint venture with Russian company AvtoVAZ|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/828035/GM-agrees-to-form-joint-venture-with-Russian-company-AvtoVAZ.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705212457/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/828035/GM-agrees-to-form-joint-venture-with-Russian-company-AvtoVAZ.com|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 5, 2017|access-date=5 July 2017|work=Deseret News|date=27 February 2001|language=en}}</ref> Increased competition from foreign car manufacturers had the company's share of the Russian market fall to 49% in 2002, compared to 56% four years earlier.<ref name="glazunov86"/> In 2003, VAZ presented the [[concept car]] [[Lada Revolution]], an open single-seater [[sports car]] powered by a 1.6-L engine producing {{Convert|215|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}}. Production of the [[Wankel engine]] used on some Lada models (mostly the police versions) stopped in 2004.<ref>Thompson, p.237.</ref>

The introduction of the new [[Lada Kalina|Kalina]] [[B-segment]] lineup to the market occurred in 2005. AutoVAZ  built a new modern plant for this model and was hoping to sell some 200,000 cars annually. The Kalina had been originally designed in the early 1990s, and its launch was repeatedly delayed, exemplifying the company's difficulty in bringing products to market in time.<ref name="glazunov86"/> In October 2005, control of the company, which had until then been exercised by subsidiaries of AvtoVAZ connected to Kadannikov, was transferred to [[Rosoboronexport]].<ref name="glazunov86" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Buckley|first1=Neil|title=Russian state expands drive to reimpose control over strategic sectors|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/059cf022-5c90-11da-af92-0000779e2340.html?ft_site=falcon&desktop=true|access-date=1 July 2017|work=Financial Times|date=24 November 2005}}</ref> March 2007 had the start of production of [[Lada Priora]], a restyled and modernised 110-series model.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lada Priora with robotized transmission will appear in the mid-2014 |url=http://eng.autostat.ru/news/view/8809/ |website=eng.autostat.ru |access-date=2015-09-14 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222083313/http://eng.autostat.ru/news/view/8809/ |archive-date=2015-12-22 }}</ref>

In 2005 it was estimated in a documentary created by [[Channel One Russia]] that about 500 people were killed between 1990 and 2005 during conflicts between police and criminals related to AvtoVAZ.
The Documentary was released same year when Rosoboronexport took over AvtoVAZ with the support of 300 police officers during the extraordinary general meeting. Though Rosoboronexport was not listed as company shareholder at the time, no objections were raised by other parties, such as official shareholders. Rosoboronexport action was supported by [[Vladimir Putin]] publicly.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ostrovsky |first=Arkady |date=2006-07-06 |title=Gunsmoke clears at Kremlin's carmaker |url=https://www.ft.com/content/2e3d3b94-0d0d-11db-84fd-0000779e2340 |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=www.ft.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>