Renault suspends production at Moscow plant after Ukrainian pressure campaign
French auto-maker Renault announced on Wednesday it was pausing operations at its Moscow factory and exploring options for selling its majority stake in the Russia-based AvtoVAZ conglomerate.
The move comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned them by name in a speech to French lawmakers, calling on them to support Kiev.
Earlier in the day, Zelensky addressed the parliament in Paris via video-link and demanded that French companies “must quit the Russian market” and stop financing what he called the “Russian war machine.” He specifically named Renault among the examples.
Zelensky’s foreign minister Dmitry Kuleba then called for “customers and businesses around the globe to boycott Group Renault,” accusing the company of supporting “a brutal war of aggression in Europe.”
Within hours, the car-maker based in the posh Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt announced the suspension of operations at the Moscow plant. The French government owns a 15% stake in Renault. In addition to halting production, the group also said it was exploring the ways to sell its stake in the biggest Russian automaker AvtoVAZ.
Renault owns almost 67% of AvtoVAZ, having bought out the stakes held by Nissan in 2017 and General Motors in 2019. The company had initially suspended operations at its Moscow plant at the start of the conflict, but had resumed production since.
