FILE PHOTO: An employee attaches the logo of Gorkovsky Automobile Plant (GAZ) on a vehicle at the company's plant in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury said on Friday it was giving investors several more months to divest from Russian automaker GAZ GAZA.MM, a company linked to Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska that Washington sanctioned over Russia's "malign activity."

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said it would allow investors and businesses until March 31 to cut ties with GAZ. It also said it would permit activities needed to maintain or wind down existing contracts with GAZ until then.

The previous deadlines were November 8.