An Avtozaz-Daewoo joint venture based in Zaporozhye Ukraine, which has been idle since December 30, is restarting and began serial production of ZAZ-1103 cars on March 18.

The joint venture had already assembled a consignment of 30 cars, which were used to test the readiness of the new model.

The company plans to produce 1,300 cars by the end of March, including 850 Tavria Lux cars, 150 Tavria Estate cars and 300 five-door hatchbacks.

With the support of the government the Ukrainian and Korean partners managed to resolve disputes that had arisen between them, the company said.

The joint venture has great hopes for the ZAZ-1103 model as initial market research has shown a lot of interest among potential buyers.

The joint venture ceased production on December 30, 1998 due to low sales. Sales were hindered by the high prices of the Daewoo cars, the Ukrainian partners said.

The agreement to form the joint venture was signed in Kiev on September 17, 1997 and the founding documents were signed on March 2, 1998 in Zaporozhye.

The overall cost of the project is $1.2 billion. Daewoo planned to invest $230 million into the venture in 1998, but only $185 million has been invested to date, including $150 million in the charter capital and $35 million in repaying factory debts.

Accounts payable at the company amounted to 79.7 million hryvna on December 1, 1998, with accounts receivable at 77.7 million hryvna.