GROZNY, Russia, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Russia's biggest carmaker will begin assembling cars in Chechnya, local leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Monday as he tried to highlight the region's emergence from over a decade of war.

Kadyrov, who is backed by the Kremlin, said the deal with the Russian region of Samara, where the AvtoVAZ <AVAZ.MM> carmaker is based, will provide around 8,000 jobs.

Traffic groans on newly paved streets and labourers scurry around building sites in the Chechen capital Grozny. But the bombed out shells of buildings still skirt the city, reminders of the two wars between Russian soldiers and rebels since 1994.

Kadyrov -- a 31-year-old former rebel -- is trying to rebuild the region after the wars and has won millions of dollars of aid from Moscow.

The Kremlin says the Chechen war is over and is encouraging companies to invest in the region.

But unemployment is around 75 percent and Russian soldiers are still battling rebels in the mountains. (Writing by James Kilner in Moscow)

AlertNet news is provided by