German carmaker Volkswagen Group has published a financial report for the first half of 2023. This is reported in the company's press release.
The transaction cost amounted to 125 million euros.
According to the report, on May 18, 2023, Volkswagen Group completed the sale of the Russian assets of Volkswagen Group Rus LLC and local subsidiaries, including Volkswagen Components and Services LLC in Kaluga, Scania Leasing LLC, OOO Scania Finance" (Scania Finance) and OOO "Scania Insurance" (Scania Insurance) in Moscow.
Upon registration of the transaction on May 22, 2023, the ownership of Volkswagen Group Rus shares passed to ART-FINANCE LLC, a subsidiary of Avilon Avtogroup JSC.
The deal also includes production facilities in Kaluga, a network of importers of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, AUDI, SKODA, Bentley, Lamborghini and Ducati brands for possible after-sales service and warehousing activities, a spare parts and accessories warehouse in Chekhov near Moscow.
Volkswagen Group has recognized significant impairment losses, taking into account the sale of Russian assets, the deconsolidation of which resulted in losses of 0.4 billion euros in fiscal year 2023.
Volkswagen conducted contract assembly of Volkswagen Taos and three Skoda models (Octavia, Karoq, Kodiaq) at the site of GAZ Automobile Plant LLC until March 2022. In April 2023, GAZ filed several lawsuits against Volkswagen AG, claiming damages totaling about 44 billion rubles.
In a number of cases, GAZ initially sought protective measures against the shares of Volkswagen Group Rus LLC (VGR), as well as movable and immovable property, but later courts of other instances rejected or canceled all protective measures and GAZ's appeal against decisions to dismiss the claim.
Volkswagen stopped production in Russia in March 2022. The Volkswagen plant located in the Kaluga industrial park "Grabtsevo" is capable of producing up to 225 thousand cars per year. Volkswagen Polo, Volkswagen Tiguan and Skoda Rapid were assembled at the plant. A gasoline engine plant with a capacity of 150 thousand engines annually is located on the same site.
The plant in Kaluga was sold without the possibility of repurchase. It is planned to resume production of cars at its base at the end of 2023. The Chinese company Chery showed interest in the enterprise.
The former Russian representative office of Volkswagen (Volkswagen Group Rus LLC) was renamed AGR Automotive Group (AGR LLC). The full-scale rebranding will affect the company's corporate identity, visual identification, as well as the company's dealer network, which currently includes more than 400 enterprises.
AGR plans to maintain a professional team and continue selling cars and spare parts, providing customers with access to the widest possible model range and high-quality service.
Art-Finance LLC is a subsidiary of the Avilon Group, registered in February 2023 in Moscow.
Volkswagen is a German automobile concern with headquarters in Wolfsburg (Germany). Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (VAG) heads the concern, which includes 1,500 subsidiaries, joint ventures and partnerships. The company produces cars under the brands Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Scania, MAN and Navistar, as well as Ducati motorcycles. The controlling stake in Volkswagen AG belongs to Porsche Automobil Holding SE.
