According to Kommersant, the German company may have difficulties withdrawing funds from the country.
The German concern Mercedes will be the third major automaker to leave the Russian market after Renault and Nissan, reports "Kommersant".
According to the newspaper, the company has sold its plant in the Moscow region and its assets to the dealership Avtodom and will soon make a public announcement about its departure from Russia.
It is specified that in December 2021 Mercedes-Benz stated the value of its assets in the Russian Federation in the amount of about 2 billion euros but it does not mean that the concern will be able to complete the sale of the business profitably now. Kommersant sources told Kommersant that even if the company is able to sell its assets, it may have problems with withdrawal of funds from Russia.
The fact is that the import of cars over 50,000 euros from the EU and all cars from the USA to Russia is prohibited by sanctions and at the same time the company cannot continue operations in the country because of restrictions on the supply of components.
Recall that the Mercedes-Benz plant in Esipovo near Moscow with the ability to produce up to 25,000 cars per year began operations in 2019. The company estimated investments in the project at 19 billion rubles.