Hyundai Motor to sell Russian plant for nominal sum, taking $219 million hit

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s Hyundai Motor plans to sell its plant in Russia for a nominal 7,000 roubles ($77.67), a company official said on Tuesday, making it the latest global automaker to sell Russian assets since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.  

 

Hyundai Motor, in a regulatory filing, said it would take a 287 billion won ($219.19 million) loss on selling the plant, in which operations have been suspended since March 2022. 

 

The company said it was seeking to transfer its assets in the plant in St. Petersburg to Russia’s Art-Finance and include a buyback option in the deal. 

 

Hyundai Motor is following the path of some other major automakers, most of which sold their assets in Russia for a nominal fee and included buyback options that could one day allow them to return. 

 

In May, Volkswagen sold its shares in its Russian assets to Art-Finance, which is supported by the autodealer group Avilon.  

 

($1 = 90.1300 roubles)

 

($1 = 1,309.3600 won)

 

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Ed Davies and Bernadette Baum)