Volkswagen taxied out of arrest – Business – Kommersant

The Arbitration Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region canceled the arrest of Volkswagen and Skoda shares in Volkswagen Group Rus LLC. Thus, all the Russian assets of the German automaker, on which interim measures were imposed on the claim of the GAZ group, were unblocked. The structure of Oleg Deripaska requires the recovery of 15.6 billion rubles. losses and cancel the termination of the agreement on contract assembly of VW and Skoda at GAZ, as well as reimburse 28.4 billion rubles. for the termination of the agreement on the supply of diesel engines. Last week, Volkswagen achieved the removal of the arrest from the plant in Kaluga, the deal for the sale of which will be considered by the government commission.

The arrest of Volkswagen and Skoda shares in Volkswagen Group Rus LLC (FGR), as well as in the Russian leasing and financial structures Scania and Volkswagen Components and Services, was canceled by the Arbitration Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. At the same time, the ban on registration of transactions involving the alienation, modification and liquidation of FGR assets was lifted. The concern’s application was considered on 13 April.

Interim measures against 28.05% of Volkswagen, as well as 16.8% and 55.14% of Skoda and Volkswagen Finance Luxemburg, respectively, in the authorized capital of the FGR were imposed on the claim of GAZ for the recovery of 15.6 billion rubles. loss from the termination of the agreement on contract assembly of VW and Skoda at the Nizhny Novgorod plant of the GAZ group, signed in August 2022.

The agreements on the production of German cars at the GAZ site were valid until 2025, the conditions for cooperation after GAZ was included in the SDN list of the US Treasury in 2018 were licenses that continued to be issued to the concern. With the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the US Treasury did not extend the delay for GAZ, which was valid until June 25, 2022, but the assembly of cars stopped in March. At the suit of the car factory, the court first arrested all Russian assets of VW, and then stripped off interim measures from the automaker’s plant in Kaluga and other property.

The defendant’s lawyers proved that the claims for 15.6 billion rubles. are disproportionate to the value of the assets of the Russian subsidiary of Volkswagen at 47.5 billion rubles, and the company requires maintenance to maintain performance.

On April 13, Volkswagen representative Irina Likhacheva told the court that GAZ had no evidence that VW assets were being prepared for sale. At the same time, the value of the FGR assets exceeds 40 billion rubles, sufficient to satisfy the plaintiff’s claims if the court decides in favor of GAZ. Ms. Likhacheva noted that the deal for the sale of assets, according to the presidential decree, must be approved by the government commission on foreign investment. After the termination of the agreement on contract assembly by mutual agreement, VW paid part of the compensation to the car plant and continued to discuss further steps with GAZ to resolve the situation, the lawyer added.

At the same time, GAZ, according to Ms. Likhacheva, is behaving incorrectly, publishing statements in the media by workers demanding compensation from VW leaving Russia, and thereby causing reputational damage to the German automaker.

GAZ representative Denis Golubev, in turn, stressed that information about the upcoming sale of the VW plant in Kaluga is widely covered in the leading business media (according to Kommersant, the buyer can be car dealer “Avilon”, the plant will produce Chery cars). At the same time, the structure of the FGR’s authorized capital has undergone changes, which may indicate preparations for the sale of the asset.

“In practice, most companies leaving the market are sold at a significant discount. Accounts payable of FGR exceeds 37 billion rubles. Obviously, such a large amount of debt will directly affect the value of the company,” Mr. Golubev noted. He added that settlements during the transaction can take place at the level of parent companies in foreign currency and “money will not enter Russia.” Then GAZ, which is under sanctions, will have difficulty recovering damages in international courts. However, the court granted VW’s motion, but included Skoda and Volkswagen Finance Luxemburg as co-defendants in the GAZ lawsuit.

Earlier GAZ also demanded from Volkswagen to reimburse the debt and losses for 28.4 billion rubles. from termination of the agreement for the supply of diesel engines and VW spare parts to the automobile plant. The contract was concluded in June 2017 and was valid for ten years after the sale of the last car with a German engine by GAZ. The contract was considered extended for an indefinite period if the parties did not agree on the sale of a production line to the car factory to localize the production of engines from 2024 by December 31, 2021. At the same time, each party had the right to terminate the supply agreement ahead of schedule by notifying the partner in writing two years in advance, but not earlier than January 1, 2022.

GAZ considered that VW had not fulfilled its supply obligations since 2021. As follows from the case file, Volkswagen Group Rus sent an official letter on the termination of production to GAZ on April 4, 2022.

The main amount of the claim is the lost profit of GAZ for 20.7 billion rubles. from the inability to produce cars with German engines. Another 5.2 billion rubles. the plaintiff counted in the form of losses to the distributor, the organization of production at the car plant was estimated at 2.4 billion rubles

As a result, as part of this lawsuit, GAZ also asked to arrest the shares of Volkswagen and Skoda in Volkswagen Group Rus and to prohibit the Federal Tax Service for the Kaluga Region from any registration actions with the company’s authorized capital. However, the court refused the plaintiff, deciding that the law does not provide for arrest to stimulate the fulfillment of obligations to the counterparty.

Roman Ryskal, Nizhny Novgorod