Kamaz says vehicle exports from Russia unprofitable at current ruble rate

ST. PETERSBURG. Sept 15 (Interfax) - Automobile exports from Russia are generating losses for Kamaz at the ruble's current exchange rate, the truck maker's CEO, Sergei Kogogin said on the sidelines off the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum on Wednesday.

"Exports at today's exchange rate are very loss-making. We have put our export company in a position where they must reduce export sales in order to prevent a difficult financial situation at the company," Kogogin told reporters.

Nonetheless, Kamaz has set quotas for deliveries to every primary market where it has a presence, he said. "We will sell at prices that are commercially unfavourable for us," Kogogin said

Kamaz's main export markets in recent years have been Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The company exported about 6,000 automobiles last year and sold about 39,000 on the Russian market.

Kogogin said in mid-June that Kamaz still planned to sell 39,000 trucks in Russia this year despite a drop in sales of its highest-margin, latest K5 models. Exports could drop to 4,000-5,000 vehicles, he said at the time.

At the forum on Wednesday, Kogogin confirmed that Kamaz still plans to maintain production in 2022 at the level targeted by the business plan at the start of the year. The company previously reported that automobile production rose 5.8% to 28,600 in the first eight months of 2022.

"We're moving ahead with a small plus compared to last year. It's difficult to make any forecasts right now. Working in today's conditions of disrupted supply chains is every day like at the front, only without shooting. And it's clear that our intention for the business plan, to make the 45,000 [vehicle kits] that we planned, is a difficult challenge, very difficult," Kogogin said.