Hyundai and Volkswagen stood at the exit – Newspaper Kommersant No. 59 (7504) dated 04/06/2023
[ad_1]
The Government Commission on Foreign Investments is preparing to consider the sale of Russian assets of Hyundai and Volkswagen in the near future. Despite GAZ’s lawsuits against VW, Avilon did not slow down the approval of the deal and is ready to buy a plant in Kaluga, Kommersant’s sources say. Most likely, after the deal, the production of Chinese Chery will be launched there. On the assets of Hyundai, which has already written off more than 10 billion rubles. from depreciation of assets in the Russian Federation, Kazakhstani players claim that they can keep the production of components for their assembly sites in Kazakhstan in St. Petersburg.
Deals on the sale of Russian assets of Hyundai and Volkswagen are close to completion and are on the agenda of the next meetings of the government commission on foreign investment, two interlocutors told Kommersant. Traditionally, meetings are held on Thursdays. In the government apparatus, Hyundai and Volkswagen did not comment on this.
According to two other Kommersant sources, the litigation between GAZ and Volkswagen, as well as the partial seizure of the latter’s assets as part of the proceedings, did not slow down the sale, and the Avilon car dealer should still become the buyer (they declined to comment). Volkswagen announced two weeks ago that it was ready to finalize the sale of Russian assets to a “trustworthy Russian investor.”
Kommersant’s interlocutor indicates that the concern is not interested in selling the car plant separately from other assets in the Russian Federation that are not related to production, and wants to sell everything to one buyer.
In the future, it is planned to assemble Chinese cars at the plant – one of Kommersant’s sources talks about attracting Chery. Chery did not comment on this.
Hyundai in Russia has a main car plant in Solnechnogorsk (Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus LLC, HMMR), as well as a nearby engine plant (owned by a subsidiary of Hyundai Wia) and a site bought from GM in Shushary. According to its 2022 financials, the concern wrote off 172.8 billion won (10.5 billion rubles) due to the impairment of the value of XMMR and another 114 billion won for the engine plant.
Kommersant’s interlocutors call a Kazakh company a contender for Hyundai’s assets. There are two car factories in Kazakhstan that depend on the supply of components from HMMR – Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan in Almaty, owned by Astana Motors, and SaryarkaAvtoProm (Kostanay), which produces Kia cars and is owned by Allur.
Some Kommersant sources believe that a structure close to Astana Motors can organize the production of components for a plant in Kazakhstan in St. Petersburg.
Indirectly, this is indicated by the staff optimization that Hyundai carried out at the plant at the beginning of the year. However, in Astana Motors, Kommersant was told that the company has no plans to enter a plant in the Russian Federation.
Telegram-channel “Russian car” said that the head of the distributor Hyundai Auto Kazakhstan (part of Astana Motors) Denis Kolomatsky headed Vostok-Avto Management registered in St. Petersburg (99% from the Kazakh Golden Eagle Management Ltd LLP and 1% from Prime Automotive LLP, both are led by Mr. Kolomatsky). According to the Telegram channel, the new company plans to partially assemble Hyundai cars at a site in St. Petersburg from existing stocks, and the missing components are going to be “ordered from Turkey and Korea for the Astana Motors plant in Kazakhstan, where St. Petersburg blanks will be assembled.” Astana Motors placed several tenders at once for container transportation of SKD car kits for Hyundai cars along the route from South Korea through the Russian Federation to Kazakhstan, including for April-June 2023.
As for Allur, in 2021 the company agreed with KhMMR on the supply of car kits for the SKD assembly of the Kia Rio model in Kazakhstan. Kommersant’s source admits that as a result, the head of Allur Andrey Lavrentiev can directly buy the plant. The fact that the last name of Mr. Lavrentyev appeared in the deal is known by another Kommersant source. Kommersant sent a request to Allur.
Automotive expert Vladimir Bespalov notes that the way to produce components can be a good temporary solution to the situation: “Although deliveries through the Russian Federation complicate logistics, the company receives a ready-made plant with equipment, which probably covers these additional costs.” He admits that, in theory, cars can be imported into the Russian Federation from Kazakhstan, if this does not violate the US sanctions restrictions that Korea complies with.
[ad_2]
Source link
