PARIS — French automaker Renault has agreed to sell its 68 percent stake in Russia’s largest automaker to a state-backed entity, in a deal that would give Renault the option to buy back its stake if it chooses to return to Russia. The move, announced Monday, marks a major pullout by Renault, the western automaker most exposed to the Russian market.
After buying the stake in the giant automaker AvtoVAZ, the state-backed entity, the Moscow-based Central Research and Development Automobile and Engine Institute, known as NAMI, would continue to run its two sprawling auto factories and pay its employees. Renault could then buy back its stake in its Russian partner within six years, Renault said when announcing the deal.
“Today we made a difficult but necessary decision, and we are making a responsible choice for our 45,000 employees in Russia,” said Luca de Meo, the CEO of the French carmaker.
Renault did not immediately disclose how much it will receive for the bet.
Russia’s deal with Renault offers a picture of how the Kremlin is trying to create openings for Western companies to do business there again after the dust settles after President Vladimir V. Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Western companies have come under tremendous pressure to divest from Russia, and hundreds of them, from McDonald’s to oil giant Shell, have suspended operations or cut off collaborations with Russian partners, putting pressure on the Russian economy.
Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov has previously said that AvtoVAZ, the maker of Russia’s best-selling Lada car, is likely to be transferred to NAMI for care “with the option of repurchase, if our colleagues decide to return.”
