Moscow (AFP) - The Japanese automaker Nissan will sell all its Russian assets, including a factory in St. Petersburg, to the Russian government, the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Moscow announced Tuesday.

The announcement came after Nissan suspended manufacturing at its plant in Russia's second-largest city in March, shortly after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"The Executive Committee of Nissan has approved the sale of its Russian assets to the Russian Federation (...) This includes Nissan's production and research facilities in St. Petersburg as well as sales and marketing centers in Moscow," Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a statement.

She added that under the terms of the agreement, Nissan could "buy back its share over the next six years."

Nissan said in a separate statement that the agreement would be terminated "in the coming weeks," adding that the company would receive a "one-off" amount of about 100 billion yen ($686.5 million).

She noted that its employees in Russia, numbering nearly two thousand people, will keep their jobs for a period of 12 months.

Neither side provided any financial details of the deal on Tuesday.

"On behalf of Nissan, I thank our Russian colleagues for their contribution to the business over many years. While we cannot continue to operate in the market, we have found the best possible solution to support our employees," Nissan General Manager Makoto Uchida said in the statement.