Volkswagen’s Russian assets have been frozen
The german carmaker has been trying to wind down its Russian operation for basically a year, now another roadblock has hit VW as its assets in the country have been frozen by a Russian court.
Volkswagen, along with a plethora of other foreign companies, suspended operations and started to exit Russia last year following the imposed sanctions due to the war in Ukraine.
The company has been attempting to sell its Russian assets, including its main facility in the city of Kaluga, which has been at a standstill since March 2022 and has a capacity to produce 225,000 vehicles annually, Reuters reports
Russian automaker GAZ, a company that was contracted to produce Volkswagen cars at its factory in Nizhny Novgorod, has sought to stop any sales as part of a lawsuit following Volkswagen's termination of the production deal in August.
GAZ claims that Volkswagen's exit from Russia will jeopardise its own interests and is thus seeking USD 201.3 million in damages for the terminated contract., Reuters reports citing the court fillings.
A spokesperson for Volkswagen’s Russian subsidiary told Reuters that the company is “aware of the claim from GAZ and are familiarising ourselves with the case materials.” The subsidiary is currently in the process of applying to Russian authorities to sell its stake in Volkswagen Group Rus – including a plant in Kaluga – to an unnamed domestic investor. The spokesperson continued to say that the company hopes that the lawsuit will not delay the transaction.
