The assets of Nissan Manufacturing Rus, the representative of the Japanese brand Nissan in Russia, are set to move into state ownership. The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation announced the development on October 11, and the information has been confirmed by Nissan’s Russian representative office. The assets are being transferred to the FSUE NAMI, which operates under the ministry. This includes a factory in St. Petersburg that hosts a production and research cluster, along with a sales center located in Moscow.
During negotiations, a workable arrangement was reached that keeps the enterprise operating. Core competencies, the production cycle, and jobs—nearly two thousand positions—will be preserved. NAMI will have the capacity to bring in other companies as production partners and to establish joint ventures. AVTOVAZ will handle after-sales service for Nissan vehicles and supply spare parts, according to statements from Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
In addition to the Qashqai, which is pictured, the St. Petersburg plant also produced the X-Trail and Murano models prior to the transition.
According to Nissan’s press release, the purchased company will operate under a new name. It is noted that after the ownership change, all employees will receive rights protection guarantees for a year. The sale terms mirror those seen when Renault exited the market: Nissan reserves the right to reacquire the company and its operations within the next six years.
Makoto Uchida, Nissan’s President and CEO, expressed gratitude to the Russian colleagues for their contributions over the years. Although Nissan cannot continue operating in the market as before, the company indicates that a well-considered solution will support its people through the transition.
Nissan estimates one-time losses tied to the exit at about 100 billion yen, which translates to roughly 43 billion rubles at current exchange rates. The St. Petersburg plant closed in March, and downtime was extended to the end of the year in mid-September.
- In St. Petersburg, the nearby Toyota plant has also ceased operations and may relocate to Kazakhstan.
- “Behind the Wheel” is available on RuTube.