Top manager of Porsche Siegfried Wolf secretly offered Russian President Vladimir Putin to resume car production at Volkswagen’s Russian factories. According to the plan, VW Skoda cars could be produced in Russia again in the second half of 2023 – but with a radically changed appearance: to resemble the “legendary models Volga and Pobeda”. Putin was reportedly impressed by this proposal and allegedly agreed to it.
Reported by Der Spiegel. It is noted that Wolf sent the letter in January 2023. In the letter, he:
- addresses the Russian President as “dear Vladimir Volodymyrovich”;
- proposes to solve the problem of car shortage in Russia by launching a joint project with GAZ at two former Volkswagen plants;
- requests a preferential loan of 60 billion rubles from the Russian authorities, as well as payment of at least 2/3 of salaries at the Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod plants for 9 months;
- offers to take on the management of the project as the owner of the Russian company “PromAvtoKonsalt”;
- promises to create over 12,000 jobs this way.
At the same time, it is emphasized, Wolf claims that a “principle agreement with VW’s top management has already been reached”. Nevertheless, VW and Porsche stated that they know nothing about his letter to Putin.
Putin’s Reaction
According to the German publication, Putin was impressed by Wolf’s proposal. “Given the situation in the automotive industry, we can support this idea,” he allegedly replied, writes OBOZ.