Volkswagen is worried that a row between the United States and Russia concerning new sanctions imposed by the United States could hit collaboration with its Russian partner GAZ Group, Chief Executive Herbert Diess stated on Friday.
“Possible sanctions are naturally a concern,” Diess stated. “We are looking into the matter very closely. If it really comes to sanctions against GAZ Group, we will have to review our business relationships, but we would not call into question our commitment to the Russian market,” he included.
GAZ Group is a manufacturer of light commercial automobiles and partly owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, one of a number of businessmen who have came under sanctions imposed by the United States this month to punish Moscow for alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
Russia’s lower house of parliament is to think about draft legislation that would provide the Kremlin powers to prohibit or restrict a list of U.S. imports, in response to new U.S. sanctions on a group of Russian businessmen and officials.
