German luxury automotive company Mercedes-Benz Group has become the latest Western automaker to complete its withdrawal from Russia, following the country’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The company sold its stake in Russia’s largest truckmaker, Kamaz, this month after securing all necessary regulatory approvals. However, it did not disclose the price of the transaction or the buyer. In an interview with the Vedomosti daily, Kamaz CEO Sergei Kogogin confirmed that Daimler Truck’s 15% stake had been sold.
In September 2021, Mercedes-Benz AG, which at the time was Daimler AG, took over a 15% stake in Kamaz from Daimler Truck. This was done with a view to returning it to Daimler Truck after the truckmaker was spun off from the carmaker in December 2021, after which Daimler AG was renamed Mercedes-Benz AG.
The stake in Kamaz was then split between Mercedes and Daimler Truck after the spin-off, with Mercedes holding the stake, but Daimler Truck having to write off the asset, which it estimated at roughly 200 million euros (USD 215 million) in a May 2022 filing.
The sale of Kamaz marks Mercedes-Benz’s conclusive exit from the Russian market after it announced its withdrawal in late 2022. It sold it shares in its industrial and financial services subsidiaries to a local investor. In late February 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, Daimler Truck froze its business activities in Russia, including its cooperation with Kamaz.
Mercedes-Benz Group is not alone in withdrawing completely from Russia. Many Western companies have abandoned the Russian market after what Russia calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine while others sold off their factories for a nominal fee. Kamaz is under US and EU sanctions.