Renault could come back to Avtovaz but no talks underway - Chemezov

MOSCOW. March 18 (Interfax) - French automaker Renault, which has left Russia, could still return to car maker Avtovaz as a shareholder, but no such talks are currently underway, Sergei Chemezov, the head of Rostec, which owns 32.3% of Avtovaz, told journalists on the sidelines of the RSPP congress on Tuesday.

Asked whether Renault returning to the Russian automaker as shareholder was a thing of the past, Chemezov replied: "Not at all? Why? This is not a thing of the past. Of course, it is necessary - to come back. If they agree to it."

The head of Rostec did not outline the conditions for a potential return of Renault. He said there were no substantive discussions on this matter yet. "No, there are no negotiations yet," he said, commenting on the possibility of Renault returning to Avtovaz.

Renault sold its Russian plant and 68% stake in Avtovaz in 2022 in deals for a token amount of 1 ruble, writing off 2.2 billion euros after discontinuing operations in Russia at the end of that year. The company retained an option to buy back its stake in the Russian automaker within six years.

The Financial Times quoted Renault CEO Luca de Meo in late February as saying when asked about a possible return to Russia that "I haven't thought about that kind of scenario because everything is moving so constantly." But at the company intends to "let's see how things go," he said. "I'd rather focus on building the future than catching up on the past...but we're business people. When we see a business opportunity, we'll try to grasp it," he said.

Avtovaz CEO Maxim Sokolov told reporters later that the option for Renault to regain its stake in Avtovaz could only be exercised if the French automaker reimbursed the investments made in his absence in the development of the Russian enterprise. He said this was estimated at more than 110 billion rubles for 2023-2025.

"We need to look at the paperwork, including the additional conditions under which this call option can be revealed. When I became Avtovaz CEO, I did not analyze this document, it was not important in 2022, when we were raising the plant from its knees and it was idling. But, as far as I have heard, the volume of investments made by both the state and the enterprise itself during this period should be assessed there," Sokolov told reporters, commenting on Renault's possible return.

"As for the volume of investments, I have already mentioned these figures many times. They exceed the average annual investment volumes made directly by the previous shareholder, Renault. In the twenties, it allocated 20-22 billion rubles annually for the development of the enterprise to renew capacity. In 2023, our investment volume amounted to more than 27.5 billion rubles, and in 2024 the figure was close to 40 billion rubles. In the plan for the current year, 2025, this will probably be at least 45 billion rubles. Clearly these investments will have to be compensated somehow if they return and the entry fee will definitely not be equal to the exit fee of a ruble," Sokolov said.

But no specific negotiations between the concerns have yet been reported. In addition, Avtovaz said later that the company develop successfully and ensure technological sovereignty on its own and was not waiting for Renault to return.

The sole shareholder of Avtovaz, according to the latest publicly available information, is currently Avto Holding LLC, whose participants at the end of 2024 were the NAMI federal state unitary enterprise with 67.7% and Rostec with 32.3%