Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn was appointed chairman of the AvtoVAZ board, strengthening the alliance's control over Russia's biggest automaker, which builds Lada cars.
Sergey Chemezov, head of Russian Technologies, previously AvtoVAZ chairman, is now vice chairman, Renault said in a statement.
Ghosn's appointment is part of an agreement that will see Renault and Nissan take a majority stake in a joint venture with Russian Technologies that will own 74.5 percent of AvtoVAZ by mid-2014.
Renault took a 25 percent stake in AvtoVAZ in 2008, beating out General Motors and Fiat, which also wanted to invest in the cash-strapped automaker.
Ghosn is looking to AvtoVAZ to help increase the alliance's sales in Russia, where a developing middle class and a vast hinterland with low car ownership promise growth. Russia is projected to surpass Germany in volume by 2014. The prospects have prompted Renault, Volkswagen Group, Ford Motor Co. and other carmakers to expand capacity.
"The alliance is committed to providing the resources and expertise necessary to transform AvtoVAZ into a world-class car manufacturer," Ghosn said on Thursday following a meeting of AvtoVAZ general shareholders.
AvtoVAZ's main Togliatti plant is expected to more than double output to 1.2 million cars by 2017 thanks to the partnership with Renault-Nissan, the carmaker's CEO, Igor Komarov, said last year.
The AvtoVAZ board now has 15 members, up from 12 previously, including eight executives from Renault-Nissan.
Through May, Russia sales of AvtoVAZ and Renault-Nissan vehicles, including Nissan's premium Infiniti brand, fell 5 percent to 333,841, according to data from the Moscow-based Association of European Businesses (AEB).
