Russian President, Vladimir Putin approved the sale of Mercedes Benz’s local financial services division, to Avtodom, on Monday.
And this brought the German Auto maker a step closer, to selling all of its Russian assets.
In March, Mercedes-Benz suspended production at its Russian factory while halting exports to Russia.
Furthermore, in October it announced an exit from the Russian market entirely, while selling off its Russian assets to a local investor.
Its departure is part of a global exit of companies from Russia.
Under Russian law, Putin must approve sale of stakes in Russian ventures, but deals with firms from “unfriendly” countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia, must be approved by a separate government commission.
On Monday, Putin signed an order, where he approved the sale of Mercedes-Benz Bank Rus to Avtodom.
Avtodom, specializes in the sale of high-end vehicles.
Currently, Avtodom hopes to get permission by February ending, to finish a deal for Mercedes-Benz’s Russian assets.
And also, restore production that was halted in a factory outside Moscow about a year ago.
Russia’s auto industry which depended heavily on Western funding and global supply chains, was impacted by Western sanctions in 2022, causing a drop in auto productions from 67 percent to 450,000 passenger cars.
It was the worst performance in the country, since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The terms of the deal were undisclosed.
However, a lot of Western companies sold their Russian operations for significant sums such as one euro and one roubles.
Some added buy-back clauses to ensure possible return to Russia in the future.
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