Gazprom joins Aurus – Kommersant FM

Gazprom may buy a stake in the manufacturer of luxury cars Aurus, which are used by top officials of the state. This was reported by Vedomosti with reference to three sources familiar with the shareholders of the automobile company. According to them, the deal was conceptually approved at the government level. Its value is still unknown, as is the size of the share that Gazprom will receive. One of the publication’s interlocutors suggested that we could be talking about 40%. Now the main shareholders of Aurus are FSUE NAMI, the Arab fund Tawazun and the Sollers company.

But why does Gazprom need this asset? Partner of the GRM legal group Sergei Novikov believes that this may be a forced purchase for the company. According to him, apparently, the purpose of such a deal is to improve the financial situation of the luxury car manufacturer:

“Revenue for 2021 amounted to 370 million rubles, net loss – almost 1 billion rubles. In 2022, the company sold 31 cars versus 20 in 2021. So we should probably assume that revenue has increased somewhat, the net loss figures have decreased somewhat, but there is definitely one, I would estimate it at around 500-600 million rubles. At the same time, last year, after a short-term surge, the dollar exchange rate was quite stable.

As for 2023, there are many trends and various opposing factors. There is information about the sale of more than 50 cars over ten months, but at the same time we see negative dynamics of the exchange rate, which affects the final cost and expenses of the company.

If we talk about Gazprom, then by and large there is no economic benefit for it. This is, rather, some kind of change in the sources of repayment of the financial deficit of the Aurus company. I think that this will be one of the main trends when budget spending will be shifted to these near-state structures.”

Nevertheless, the corporation may have its own interest in such a deal, noted the editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine Maxim Kadakov:

“If the Aurus deal goes through, it will be a good option. This is a great way for a manufacturer to attract the funds he needs for development, that’s a fact.

For Gazprom, in turn, this is an opportunity to enter the capital of an enterprise with interesting ideas and technical developments, if we take the combination of Aurus LLC as a manufacturer and seller of cars and US as their developer.

There is a huge hole in the domestic auto industry between models the size of Lada Vesta and Aurus, and you can make good money from this in the future.

There is nothing wrong with the fact that this is a non-core asset. As far as I know, there are some outlines, plans for a car approximately the size of a Toyota Camry: where to design and produce it.

Obviously, it can be designed by US. I think that in the next three to five years we may see models of the middle or, as we now say, business class, the size of a Toyota Camry, which we do not currently have.”

In September 2023, the Gazprom Tech structure acquired the Kazan company Aurus-Aero, which produces aircraft under a luxury brand. Kommersant FM sent a request to Gazprom.

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Elena Ivanova