The business of the Renault group in Russia is from this Monday owned by the Russian State. One part will remain in the hands of the Moscow city government, and another will go to a state research center. This was announced by both the country's government and the French company, which described the decision as "necessary" due to the situation created after the Kremlin sent its troops to Ukraine and Western countries applied economic sanctions against Russia.
The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that "the agreements on the transfer of the Russian assets of the Reanult group to the Russian Federation and the Government of (the city of) Moscow" had been signed.
The sale has been made for a symbolic amount. In a statement, Renault estimated the value of its assets in Russia at 2,195 million euros.
Earlier, Russian Industry Minister Denis Manturov said the transfer would be "a conditional deal for one ruble."
After the agreement, one hundred percent of the shares of Renault Russia become the property of the government of the capital. The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, said Monday that they will use the factory left by Renault in the capital to revive the "Moskvich", a classic car that began to be built in the Soviet Union in the 1930s-1940s and whose builder entered bankrupt at the beginning of the 21st century.
At the same time, 67.69% of the shares that Renault held in the AvtoVAZ consortium, manufacturer of Lada vehicles, became the property of the Central Institute for Research and Development of Automobiles and Motors (NAMI).
The deal does not affect the rest of AvtoVAZ shares, which continue to belong to the Russian technology company Rostec.
Renault called the decision to sell complicated but necessary. "We made a difficult but necessary decision, and we made a responsible decision with our 45,000 employees in Russia, maintaining the efficiency of the group and our ability to return to the country in the future, in a different context," said Luca de Meo, CEO of the Renault group.
An important condition of the deal is that Renault will have a buyback option on its AvtoVAZ stake, which could be implemented over the next six years.
In that period, "they can decide to return or buy the shares. If we (Russia) make investments in that period, that will also be taken into account in the cost. There will be no gifts here," Manturov said days ago.
Renault opened its offices in Russia in 1992-1993.
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