RUSSIA: RENAULT MEETS ITS COUNCIL, CRITICISM IS MULTIPLYING
by Gilles Guillaume
PARIS (Reuters) – Renault is meeting its board of directors again on Wednesday to discuss its position in Russia as pressure mounts on foreign companies to leave Russian soil amid war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky on Wednesday asked French companies to leave Russia. Quoting Auchan, Leroy-Merlin and Renault, he judged that they should stop being the “sponsors of the war”.
A Renault spokeswoman declined to comment.
But according to two sources familiar with the matter, the diamond group is carefully monitoring the criticism that the resumption of production at the Renault factory in Moscow and the Avtovaz factories, which the French manufacturer controls, has aroused in the past days on certain social networks.
The situation will also be discussed at the end of the day on Wednesday in the group’s board of directors, the sources added.
The most exposed in the sector to the Russian market, Renault has been in a delicate situation since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and has made no official communication since the start of the crisis on its prospects in the region.
After resuming production on March 16, Avtovaz, Russia’s top automaker, announced a further partial production halt at its Togliatti and Izhevsk sites this week due to shortages of electronic components.
Renault Russia also announced on Wednesday that production at its Moscow plant should be suspended again on Wednesday evening due to logistical problems, Renault Russia announced on Wednesday, just two days after activity at the site resumed.
According to two other sources familiar with the matter, the directors of Renault already studied various scenarios for Russia ten days ago, but decided for the time being to maintain the group’s presence as it is, in accordance with the sanctions. international organizations and with the support of the manufacturer’s main shareholder, the French State.
A definitive exit would weaken the recovery of the group, of which Avtovaz represented half of the current operating profit of the automotive division last year.
(Written by Gilles Guillaume, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)