Hyundai Motor Company signed a contract to sell its factory in Russia to the Russian company Art Finance.
Hyundai Motor Company’s factory in St. Petersburg, Russia. / Hyundai Motors
According to a report by Russia’s Interfax news agency on the 26th (local time), Russia’s AGR Automotive Group announced that Art Finance has signed a contract to acquire 100% of the shares of Hyundai Motors Russia, including the Hyundai Motors plant in St. Petersburg. AGR, a subsidiary of Art Finance, is the new name of Volkswagen Russia, acquired by Art Finance last year.
AGR completed the acquisition process for the assets of Hyundai Motor Company on the 24th of this month and received approval from the Russian government’s Foreign Investment Supervisory Committee and the Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of the Russian Federation. AGR plans to change the name of the Hyundai Motors plant.
Hyundai Motor Company completed the construction of its factory in St. Petersburg in 2010 and began targeting the Russian market. However, as Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and came under Western sanctions, problems arose with the supply of parts. Hyundai Motor Company eventually halted plant operations in March of that year.
After holding on for about two years, Hyundai eventually decided to withdraw from the Russian market, following other global car brands. Hyundai Motor Company held an extraordinary board meeting last month to approve the sale of its shares in the Russian plant and the General Motors (GM) St Petersburg plant acquired in 2020 to Art Finance, and has been discussing the details of a specific contract.
AGR did not disclose the terms of this contract. However, Hyundai Motor Company is known to have sold the plant for 10,000 rubles (about 140,000 won) under a buyback condition that would allow it to be revived within two years. On the 23rd, AGR appointed Alexei Kalichev, who served as Genesis sales director in Russia at Hyundai Motor Company, as CEO of the new holding company.
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