GAZ seeking to recover 15.6 bln rubles from VW in court, VW assets in Russia seized

MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) - The GAZ Group automobile plant has filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of Nizhny Novgorod Region to invalidate the agreement on contract assembly in Nizhny Novgorod with the German car maker Volkswagen and to recover 15.6 billion rubles of losses from it, according to arbitration case materials.

The relevant claim was filed on March 14.

On March 17, the court granted GAZ's petition for interim measures in the case, in particular, the arrest of stakes in the Russian representative office of VW and legal entities under its control, all the property of the German carmaker in Russia except for monetary assets. In addition, at GAZ's request the court prohibited any registration activities associated with liquidation, reorganization, change in the membership of shareholders, increase and decrease in the authorized capital of the Russian subsidiary of VW and its controlled legal entities.