ST. PETERSBURG, June 16. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with businessmen on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Thursday to discuss issues of the development of the automotive sector.
According to Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov, along with representatives of large sectoral businesses, the meeting will be attended by members of the Russian cabinet.
Situation in the automotive sector
In early June, Putin said at a government meeting on economic issues that the automotive sector and several other industries had seen a production slump in April.
A number of car manufacturers, including Toyota, BMW, Nissan, Lexus, Stellantis, Volvo, Daimler Truck, have suspended production and deliveries of cars to Russia amid the Western sanctions and severed logistics chains. Renault Russia has transferred its shares to Moscow and Renault’s stake in Avtovaz has been transferred to the Central Scientific and Research Automobile and Automotive Engine Institute NAMI.
According to the Association of European Businesses (AEB), sales of new cars and light commercial cars in Russia dropped by 83.5 percent in May 2022 on May 2021, to 24,268.
According to the last week’s forecast of the Russian ministry of industry and trade, sales of cars in Russia are expected to go down by 55 percent in 2022, to stand at 750,000.