Russia nationalizes assets of French Renault

The Russian government has taken control of French carmaker Renault's Russian assets, including the Renault Russia plant, which has been transferred to the Moscow government, and shares in Russian vehicle plant AvtoVAZ, which has been transferred to a state-run research center, according to the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade on Monday.

In March, Renault announced it would suspend operations at its Moscow plant and investigate alternatives for selling its majority ownership in the Russia-based AvtoVAZ conglomerate.

According to the Ministry's Telegram announcement, "Russian assets of the Renault group are being passed to state ownership. Agreements have been signed on the transfer of Russian assets of the Renault group to Russia and the Moscow government. The agreements signed provide for the transfer of Renault Russia shares to the city of Moscow and AvtoVAZ shares to the government represented by FSUE [federal state unitary enterprise] NAMI."

As a result, the city of Moscow would hold 100% of Renault Russia, while the Russian government, represented by NAMI, will possess 67.69% of AvtoVAZ shares. Rostec, the Russian state technology firm, will keep the remaining shares.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that he decided to adopt the plant in order to save the employment of its employees and to resume the manufacture of vehicles under the Soviet-Russian brand Moskvitch.