Federation Council senator recalls Volkswagen's unwillingness to leave Russia
German automaker Volkswagen did not want to leave Russia; its decision was influenced by political pressure from the German authorities, which have a large stake in the company, Anatoly Artamonov, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Budget and Financial Markets, told the Parliamentary Gazette. In the Federation Council he represents the Kaluga Region, where the former Volkswagen car plant is located.
"The Russia and the CIS division chief left with great regret and said that they had never enjoyed such conditions or had such well qualified personnel anywhere," the senator said. According to Artamonov, the real reasons for Volkswagen's departure from Russia were a parts supply problem and pressure from the German authorities.
A 20% stake in Volkswagen's voting shares owned by the federal state of Lower Saxony enabled "German authorities to block the company's activities in Russia", Artamonov said.
The Volkswagen Group sold its Russian assets, including the Kaluga plant, to an entity of Russia's Avilon dealership in 2023. The buyer was Art Finance LLC "with the support" of Avilon, Volkswagen reported. The transaction may have been worth €125 million. After the deal, Volkswagen's former Russian representative office was renamed AGR Automotive Group. AGR restarted production at the plant in summer 2025. The former Volkswagen plant started large-scale production of Tenet automobiles created specifically for the Russian market, AGR Holding reported.
The circumstances under which foreign companies left Russia should be taken into account, as the government is now "creating a kind of traffic light for Western companies, who will be given the green, yellow, and red or maroon colour of loyalty," Artamonov said. Earlier, the Centre for Strategic Research (CSR; its chairman is Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov) analysed about 1,500 companies that partially or fully withdrew from Russia and classified them according to the degree of fairness with which they left. The companies were categorised into "reputational" lists: red (unfriendly actions), yellow (did not commit unfriendly actions, but did not show a sufficient degree of responsibility), and green (left in a responsible manner).
Artamonov also said that "moral support" must be given to the companies from unfriendly countries that remained in Russia. "There are points at which companies from unfriendly countries start to be gradually mistreated. This should not happen under any circumstance. As if it's not enough that they showed courage, but here we are, starting to punish them for it. That is unacceptable," the senator emphasised.