Gaz was a manufacturing partner of VW in Russia. Shortly after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the German car manufacturer stopped production.
A court in Nizhny Novgorod on the Volga has confiscated the assets of the Wolfsburg-based automotive group in Russia following a lawsuit by the former Russian VW partner Gaz. Gaz has applied to the court to annul the termination of the assembly contract and to order VW to pay a contractual penalty of 15.6 billion rubles (190 million euros), the Interfax news agency reported, citing the court file.
The Russian carmaker Gaz, known in Soviet times for the manufacture of Volga limousines, was VW’s manufacturing partner in Russia until last year. Several VW and Skoda models were assembled at the Nizhny Novgorod factory. After the US sanctions against Gaz came into effect in May, VW officially withdrew from co-manufacturing and offered employees there a severance package.
As in VW’s own plant in Kaluga, 150 kilometers south of Moscow, production was stopped shortly after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Recently it became known that the German car manufacturer is negotiating the sale of its plant and other assets in Russia. The car dealer group Avilon was considered a possible buyer. However, such deals must be approved by the Russian government.
Source: Stern
