Under pressure since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the French manufacturer Renault decided on Wednesday to suspend its industrial activities in Russia.
At the end of a board meeting held this Wednesday evening at Renault’s headquarters in Paris, the company has decided to suspend its industrial activities in Russia from this day on.
In its press release, the group specifies that the activities of the Renault factory in Moscow are suspended, the only one owned by the company in the country. This plant was already operating intermittently in recent days due to logistical problems.
Concerning its subsidiary Avtovaz, the manufacturer of Lada, the group indicates to evaluate “the possible options concerning its participation in Avtovaz, while acting responsibly towards its 45,000 employees in Russia”.
Renault in a delicate situation
As a result, Renault is revising its financial outlook downwards for the year 2022. The group is aiming for an operating margin of around 3%, against 4% previously.
Russia is a very important country for the group since it represents its second world market. The manufacturer has three assembly plants there and employs 40,000 people.
The group has been under pressure since the start of the war in Ukraine. The automaker was quoted on Wednesday by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky among the French companies called upon to leave Russia and to cease to be “the sponsors of the war”. A few hours later, Dmytro Kuleba, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, called for a “global boycott” of the company.