Russian buys British van maker

BIRMINGHAM, England, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Russia's Gaz Group has paid $93 million to buy LDV, a financially ailing British vanmaker based in Birmingham.

Gaz, controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, said he would retain the company's Washwood Heath factory and its 850 workers even though he is preparing parallel production of the leading LDV van in Russia, the Financial Times said Tuesday.

LDV said in a statement that the company hoped to increase Birmingham van production by 50 percent next year to 15,000.