Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Renault chairman and CEO Louis Schweitzer

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Renault chairman and CEO Louis Schweitzer, cochairman of the Russian-French Dialogue Association, the Kremlin press service told RIA Novosti. On July 2, 1998 the French automobile concern and the Moscow government set up the Avtoframos joint venture on parity basis. It was registered as an open joint stock company. In late April 1999 the first Russian-assembled Renault Megane was produced at the AZLK plant in Moscow. The assembling of Renault-19 and Clio cars began later. Currently the plant is getting ready to produce Logan cars designed with account for climate, traffic, service and other features of Russia and other eastern European countries. In spite of the plans to produce 60,000 cars annually, Avtoframos failed to start mass assembling of Renault models in Moscow. Sources in the Renault headquarters explain this by the features of the Russian customs and tax legislation, which considerably increases the price of imported spare parts. The price of cars subsequently grows and this affects the financial-economic results of the enterprise. The configuration of the Avtoframos authorized capital was changed to solve this problem. In October 2004 Renault increased its share up to 76% (the share of the Moscow government is 24% correspondingly). This configuration lets Renault invest in purchase of equipment and beginning of the production of cars, chief of the Russian government staff Sergei Naryshkin told journalists. In mid-November he co-chaired at the session of the Russian-French council for economic, financial, industrial and trade cooperation in Paris. According to Mr. Naryshkin, the Russian government is to issue a statement on measures to support joint projects in the automobile sphere. These measures meant for Avtoframos and its analogues stipulate the reduction of introduction of zero-rate on foreign spare parts imported for carproduction, he said. Renault is looking forward for this statement and is ready for extra investments in order to produce 100,000-120,000 cars annually instead of planned 60,000, a source in the concern's headquarters said. Sources in the French government do not rule out that measures to support Renault activities in Russia can be discussed at the regular session of the Russian-French intergovernmental trade and economic commission. It will be held in Paris on December 10 under the chairmanship of the two countries' Prime Ministers

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