General Motors Company (GM), the world’s second-biggest carmaker, is cutting production in Russia as deliveries drop amid a weakening economy stemming from the government’s conflict with Ukraine.

GM halted car making at its plant in St. Petersburg as of today until September 12, and plans three further suspensions through October 27, Nico Schmidt, a spokesman for the carmaker in Ruesselsheim, Germany, said in an e-mail.

Bloomberg News reported that the Detroit-based manufacturer will only build cars in Russia for four days in September and eight days in October, Schmidt said.

Russia’s dispute with Ukraine has prompted United States and European Union trade sanctions, contributing to a decline in the rubble and the possibility of a recession.

Seven-month car and light-vehicle sales dropped 9.9 per cent, including a 23 per cent plunge in July. Western automakers, which have invested in a country that’s soon expected to pass Germany as Europe’s biggest car market, are reducing production and lowering forecasts.

Ford Motor Company wrote down its entire $329m investment in its Russian joint venture with OAO Sollers the second quarter after outlining plans in April to eliminate 950 positions at two of the partnership’s plants.

Renault SA, which shares control of OAO Av to VAZ, Russia’s largest carmaker, said last month that the full-year contraction in the country’s auto market may exceed a predicted 10 per cent drop.

Seven-month deliveries by GM’s Chevrolet brand plunged 23 percent from a year earlier to 73,749 vehicles, while sales by GM’s Opel division dropped 17 per cent to 38,440 cars, according to figures compiled by the Association of European Businesses in Russia.

(Bloomberg News)