Russia's Avtovaz to halt production during August

MOSCOW, July 22 (Reuters) - Russian carmaker AvtoVAZ (AVAZ.MM) has decided to halt production for a month, sending employees on holiday on two-thirds of average pay, a company spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday.

"The decision has been taken -- the factory will not work in August," said Alexander Shmygov.

Russia's car sales are expected to halve this year as consumers tighten belts faced with job and salary cuts during the country's first recession in a decade [ID:nLL722671]. The crisis and the credit crunch have also made loans hard to come by, both for car manufacturers and for would-be car buyers.

Avtovaz, in which France's Renault (RENA.PA) holds 25 percent, has already slashed hours [ID:nLJ942967] and plans to cut them further from September with a move to a 20-hour week.

The reduced hours and factory stoppages come as Russian companies seek to avoid more job cuts. (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov, Writing by Toni Vorobyova; editing by Elaine Hardcastle)