VW sees all its Russian assets frozen by court

MOSCOW — A Russian court has frozen all Volkswagen’s assets in Russia, court documents seen by Reuters showed.

VW was one of a string of foreign automakers that suspended operations in Russia after western countries imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.

VW is attempting to sell its Russian factory in Kaluga, south of Moscow. The plant, which has a capacity of 225,000 vehicles a year, has been furloughed since March 2022.

VW and Russia’s industry ministry said no decision had yet been made on the sale of the factory after it was reported earlier this month that dealer group Avilon was set to buy the factory.

Russian automaker GAZ, which was contracted to produce VW vehicles at its factory in Nizhny Novgorod, had sued the German company for breach of contract after VW terminated the agreement in August.

GAZ estimated its losses from the terminated contract at almost 16 billion rubles ($207.79 million).