The government will cut thousands of jobs at near-bankrupt carmaker AvtoVAZ but is seeking to avoid social unrest by retraining workers and offering them jobs elsewhere in the city.

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said the government did not want to see mass layoffs at the Lada maker and would work with local authorities at the group’s home city of Tolyatti to find fresh work opportunities.

“We will offer AvtoVAZ workers the chance to change jobs only when new jobs are created. We won’t ask them to resign or retire before we can offer new jobs,” Shuvalov said Wednesday, adding that the government would present a plan on AvtoVAZ by Nov. 10.

The group has repeatedly warned of bankruptcy after experiencing a collapse in demand while grappling with 60 billion rubles ($2.07 billion) of debt.

“There can be no miracles and in the situation of the market fall you cannot avoid layoffs at AvtoVAZ. But it is a very politically sensitive issue and the state will do its utmost to avoid unrest,” said Igor Nikolayev from FBK consultancy.

He said the government was likely to create state-funded special entities to keep a lid on redundant workers’ anger, adding to the billions of rubles in state aid already pumped into AvtoVAZ to keep it afloat.

The government has been deliberating on how to resolve the group’s crisis and is expected to provide the carmaker with some 70 billion rubles ($2.42 billion), while stakeholder Renault is expected to help by providing technology.

Vedomosti on Wednesday quoted unnamed sources as saying Shuvalov had agreed that AvtoVAZ needed to cut 21,000 jobs to become more efficient, although the government later denied the figure.