Russia spends over 350 bln rubles on automotive industry support in 2024 - PM

MOSCOW. June 17 (Interfax) - More than 350 billion rubles were spent on supporting and developing the Russian automotive industry in 2024, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Tuesday during a strategic session on the development of the industry.

"Last year, over 350 billion rubles were spent on establishing automobile manufacturing within Russia - primarily on subsidizing factories, including those abandoned by foreign companies. As a result, we have already launched ten modern production sites to date, in Togliatti, Izhevsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Tula and Kaluga regions and others, including places where electric cars are assembled," Mishustin said.

He said that 43 billion rubles had been invested in boosting customer demand for vehicles in 2024. "These funds were allocated for concessional loans and leasing, to allow people to purchase new vehicles under favorable conditions. Thanks to this comprehensive state support, 830,000 automobiles were manufactured last year, an increase of almost a third. This included both private and commercial vehicles - buses and trucks, necessary in order to ensure that business can work productively," the prime minister said.

He said that imports of automobiles from "friendly" countries last year had bolstered the Russian automotive market, which sold the fourth highest number of new automobiles among European countries. "In order to reinforce our technological sovereignty, it is important that we expand our industrial capacities and manufacture more Russian vehicles, including those which run on alternative types of fuel - electricity and compressed or liquefied gas," Mishustin said.