Volkswagen is Claimed $348 Million by GAZ

According to foreign media reports, court records show that Gorky Automobile Plant, a subsidiary of GAZ Group of Russia, filed a lawsuit in Nizhny Novgorod District Court of Russia on April 7, demanding to recover 28.4 billion rubles ($348 million) from Volkswagen. The details of the lawsuit have not been announced, and Volkswagen declined to comment.

It is reported that GAZ Group once assembled cars for Volkswagen. In March 2022, shortly after the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Volkswagen stopped its operations in Russia, and its factories in Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod also suspended their production until further notice. In the summer of 2022, Volkswagen decided to close the Nizhny Novgorod factory.

In March of this year, GAZ Group said that Volkswagen's attempt to withdraw from the Russian market threatened GAZ's interests, and GAZ was seeking damages of 15.6 billion rubles for Volkswagen's termination of the contract. On March 17, a Russian court froze the assets of Volkswagen in Russia, but the freezing order was lifted on April 3.

Volkswagen plans to sell its Russian assets, including the Kaluga Automobile Factory with an annual output of 225,000 units of cars, but Volkswagen has not yet made a decision on the sale. Volkswagen said that it is applying for a sales license from Russian government agencies.