KaMAZ, Russia's leading truckmaker, plans to boost its production after receiving a $100 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the company said Monday.


"We need capital badly," said Anatoly Tamilov, an adviser to KaMAZ's president. "And we will use this money to stabilize production."


KaMAZ faced a serious liquidity crisis last September. The plant had no cash to buy parts and moved to a three-day work schedule. Production fell from 3,000 to 2,700 trucks a month. Earlier this month the main assembly line stopped, Interfax said.


"We are losing money because we produce so little," Tamilov said. "The loan will give us an opportunity to raise production to 4,500 to 5,000 trucks a month."


The latest loan is a part of a bigger financial project to create a new KaMAZ truck, Tamilov added.


"We would like to build a new competitive truck that can be successfully sold not only in Asia and Africa but also in Europe," Tamilov said. "Today our truck is behind European standards. However, even Asian and African markets are becoming more demanding."


With financing from the EBRD and several Russian banks -- including Avtovazbank, Promstroibank, Sberbank and Tokobank -- KaMAZ plans to spend about $3 billion over the next five to seven years developing the new truck, Tamilov said. The EBRD loan is due to be granted later this month.


Currently, KaMAZ exports 10 percent of its trucks, mainly to Latin America, Asia and Africa.


The U.S. investment company Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is loaning $150 million to KaMAZ for investments.