vice-president of Nissan Patrick Pelata has told a Moscow business journal that the company is considering opening a plant in Russia.

Growing sales in the former Soviet state have encouraged the car manufacturer to look into the possibility of opening a factory there.

Increasing wealth in the country has seen the sale of Almeras and Primeras rise to 16,000 a month.

Those cars are being built at Nissan's Wearside plant and some experts believe moving production abroad would affect demand from Sunderland.

But Mr Pelata said moving production to Russia would allow Nissan to avoid the high costs incurred in shipping and customs duties.

Mr Pelata said options would include opening a factory or a joint venture with Renault, which holds a 44 per cent stake in Nissan, or another car maker. Rival Japanese motor group Toyota has already announced plans to start building in Russia from 2008.

Nissan denied recent speculation that a decision had been made to stop producing the Almera in Sunderland, following poor UK sales.

The plant, which has been the most productive in Europe for seven years, produced a record 330,000 cars last year.

Nissan confirmed last week the Sunderland plant had won the contract to build the new MPV-version of the Micra, safeguarding 1,000 jobs and creating a further 200 in the region. A Nissan spokeswoman said Russia was one of a number of locations within the European region being considered for future expansion.

The spokeswoman said: "It is only a possibility at the moment, we cannot say any more than that."