The Russian carmaker RusPromAvto today moved to dispel speculation it was interested in buying MG Rover.
In a statement on its website, RusPromAvto, which is controlled by tycoon Oleg Deripaska, said: "RusPromAvto's leadership has not held, and does not plan to hold, any negotiations on this matter."
Weekend reports in the British press suggested that Mr Deripaska, a close friend of Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea football club owner, and Nikolai Smolensky, who bought British sports car maker TVR last year, was considering bidding for Rover.
Britain's last volume car manufacturer called in the administrators last month after failing to reach agreement on a joint venture with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC).
The company's collapse resulted in 5,000 redundancies at its plant in the West Midlands, where Labour is fighting several marginal seats in Thursday's general election.
RusPromAvto's deputy chairman, Alexander Yushkevich, was quoted as telling a St Petersburg paper: "A decision will be taken once a valuation of the bankrupt English company has been completed, which could take about a year."
However, the RusPromAvto statement said Mr Yushkevich's comments were not specific, adding: "Alexander Yushkevich's comments were only of a general nature, which he made as an expert on the automobile industry, and they have nothing to do with RusPromAvto's concrete intentions in this sector."
The Iranian company Dastaan has also been reported to be considering its options over MG Rover. The UK firm's administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers, have declined to go into detail about specific bids, saying only that they have "had a number of expressions of interest from around the world".
In other developments, Rover enthusiasts called on the government to halt any plans by SAIC to "cherry-pick" assets from the Rover factory at Longbridge.
A survey of almost 300 Rover car owners showed most wanted immediate government intervention to prevent the transfer of any part of the plant to SAIC.
"There is immense anger and frustration amongst many MG and Rover enthusiasts as a result of SAIC's sudden interest in some MG Rover Group's assets," Steve Childs, a spokesman for Rover owners, said.
Mr Childs said it was possible the Chinese firm had delayed making a decision on a possible partnership with MG Rover knowing that it would be cheaper to get its hands on Rover's manufacturing capability once the firm was in administration.
"Some commentators have generously referred to SAIC's intentions as asset-stripping. However, for MG and Rover enthusiasts, grave robbery would be a more accurate description of Chinese intent," Mr Childs said.
The enthusiasts are planning to demonstrate outside Longbridge on Thursday, the day of the general election, in a show of support for the workers who have lost their jobs.
