Russia's VTB expects Avtovaz to pay back 10 bln roubles

MOSCOW, March 25 (Reuters) - Russian state-bank VTB expects troubled carmaker Avtovaz to pay back 10 billion roubles of debt by the middle of April with no discount, the bank's board member Valery Lukyanenko said on Thursday.

'We think the debt will be reduced in the end of March or in the first half of April,' Lukyanenko said.

'The debt to us will be paid without a discount.'

AvtoVAZ needs to pay back 38 billion roubles ($1.28 billion) worth of debt and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has allocated just 28 billion roubles from the state budget to the loss-making giant.

(Reporting by Dmitry Sergeyev, writing by Alfred Kueppers) ([e-mail]; Tel [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.