German carmaker VW negotiating sale of plant in Russia

Volkswagen is holding talks about selling its plant in Kaluga, Russia, a year after the company stopped production and export of its vehicles due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"One of the options is to sell the assets of Volkswagen Group Rus, and thus also the plant in Kaluga, to a third party," a company spokesman said on Wednesday. "Talks on this are ongoing and a decision has not yet been finalized."

Earlier, the Russian news outlet RBK had reported, without confirmation from either company, that the Russian car dealership group Avilon was looking to buy the Kaluga plant. The deal was close to being concluded, it said.

VW stopped production at its then two factories in Russia in March 2022 against the backdrop of the Ukraine war. The export of vehicles to Russia was also stopped for all group brands.

In May, the group withdrew from production at the Russian assembly plant in Nizhny Novgorod. Joint production had been underway there with the carmaker Gaz, whose co-owner Oleg Deripaska is on sanctions lists in connection with the war.

Western businesses have been leaving Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago.