The former Russian Volkswagen-Partner GAZ is with a lawsuit to freeze assets of Volkswagen in Russia failed. The regional arbitration court of Nizhny Novgorod ruled this week that there is no evidence that VW would not meet its financial obligations if GAZ’s lawsuits were successful.
A few weeks ago, the court in Nizhny Novgorod on the Volga responded to a complaint by GAZ the assets of the Wolfsburg automobile group were confiscated in Russia. GAZ had applied to the court to annul the termination of the assembly contract and to order VW to pay a contractual penalty of 15.6 billion rubles (170 million euros), the Interfax news agency reported at the time, citing the court file.
GAZ had sued Volkswagen for damages because the Wolfsburg-based group had ended cooperation in 2022 as part of the EU sanctions against Russia because of the Ukraine war. The Russian Volkswagen subsidiary had rejected the claims as unreasonable and expressed surprise because the partnership with GAZ had ended on mutually advantageous terms.
The assets also include the Kaluga plant south of Moscow, which Volkswagen intends to sell. A decision on this has not yet been made, and the Russian government has yet to give its approval.