BMW CEO says Russia assembly plant decision postponed

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - BMW said it had postponed a decision about whether to build an assembly plant in Russia because of the uncertainty caused by the economic crisis, which has already caused sales of its cars in the region to fall by more than 40 percent in March.

"Russia is a challenge for our company and we have asked ourselves how will things go on there", Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer told reporters on Wednesday, adding that a decision about whether to build an assembly plant in the region had been postponed.

Separately, BMW's Chief Financial Officer Friedrich Eichiner said he expected a mid triple-digit-million euros windfall in 2015, from fair-value gains on derivative contracts used to hedge currency swings and commodity price fluctuations.

In the first quarter, gains from revaluing derivatives used to hedge currency amounted to a double-digit million euro amount, Eichiner said.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Maria Sheahan)