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The Russian government has included Renault SAS, a manufacturer of passenger cars, in the sanctions list. It includes legal entities operating in the field of military-technical cooperation, against which special economic measures are applied. Izvestia investigated how the sanctions would affect the supply of spare parts for Renault cars in Russia.

We decided to make drones

The relevant document, signed by the head of the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin, is posted on the website of the official publication of legal acts. Renault SAS is listed at number 75. It is prohibited to make transactions with companies from this list, fulfill obligations to them under already concluded transactions, as well as carry out financial transactions that are beneficial to them. Earlier, truck manufacturer Daimler Truck AG was sanctioned.

In February, Renault CEO Luca Demeo said that the company does not rule out a return to Russia. However, in June 2025, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces asked Renault to join the production of drones for military use. Later it became known that the company could join forces with drone manufacturer EOS Technologie to implement this project.

Renault's inclusion in the list of organizations subject to special restrictive measures is rather a reaction to the statements of the concern's management about the desire to develop military production in order to sell products to Ukraine, said Mikhail Khachaturian, associate professor of Strategic and Innovative Development at the Graduate School of Management Faculty of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

In August, Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec State Corporation, stated that there were no political prerequisites for Renault's possible return to AvtoVAZ's capital "even on the farthest horizon."

May shock public opinion

Information about the production of drones has caused concern among the employees of the concern, the French press writes.

"I did not sign up for the production of lethal weapons," Le Parisien quoted one Renault employee as saying.

The French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT) recalled the ethical, moral and political problems associated with the production of military products. Renault's involvement in the production of weapons, focused on innovation and environmental transition, may shock public opinion, the trade union warns.

Renault hastened to declare that they will use only sites in France and will not build a factory in Ukraine. In a letter addressed to employees, the company stated that communication with them on this issue would be transparent. Renault cites a "profitable economic opportunity" as a positive aspect of the transition to the production of military products. At the same time, he claims that he does not set himself the goal of becoming a major player in the field of arms production.

"We will stop importing spare parts for them"

In May 2022, Renault transferred its assets in the Russian Federation to Russian government agencies for a symbolic ruble with the right to buy back the previous share within six years. Tolyatti continued to produce Lada cars, and AvtoVAZ received the right to produce Duster crossovers separately. The company's Moscow plant has organized the production of machines under the revived Moskvich brand.

AvtoVAZ, which has signed partnership agreements with almost all Russian Renault dealers, took over the tasks of warranty and post-warranty service, as well as the supply of spare parts for French brand cars. The supply of original spare parts was resumed, and for some, a Russian alternative was found. Later, AvtoVAZ also took over the Nissan brand.

In this regard, in August 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade excluded Renault from the list of parallel imports, but returned it to the list in March next year.

The press service of AVTOVAZ explained that all Lada models are currently technologically completely independent from suppliers from unfriendly states. As for servicing Renault and Nissan cars, at the moment there are about 1.5 thousand cars left under warranty, Dmitry Kostromin, Vice president for Sales and Marketing at AvtoVAZ, told Izvestia.

"After the end of the warranty period, we will stop importing spare parts for them," he added.

Sales of new Renault cars in Russia have practically stopped — stocks of cars produced in our country have come to an end, alternative imports have dried up. According to ASM-Holding, only seven new Renault cars were registered in the first eight months of this year, which is 96.4% less than last year. Meanwhile, there are more than 2 million Renault cars from different years of production in our country.

— We sold the last warranty cars of this brand in 2022, and the warranty on them will also end soon. The current Russian importer, at the moment, does not fully provide us with Renault brand automotive components. We carry out complex repair work with auto parts, which we purchase ourselves," Rolf's press service said.

The Unique Duster

By and large, nothing will change with Renault's inclusion in the sanctions list, Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem, believes.

— Renault has not had any contacts with AvtoVAZ for a long time, it does not coordinate the supply of spare parts. Even the statement that the company has lost all chance of buying back its stake in AvtoVAZ is correct, on the one hand, but on the other hand, one might think that someone has promised something recently. The question of putting the Duster on the assembly line is only whether we can repeat this car in principle. We didn't even do all the stamping. You will replace the engine, but there is no gearbox," Kadakov noted.

The government's decision is understandable and correct from a political point of view. But it will not be easy for Renault car owners, says Igor Morzharetto, partner of Autostat.

— We have two million people driving Renault cars, primarily models made in Russia — it was one of our favorite brands. The abandonment of centralized supplies is not the most pleasant news for them. Especially considering that there is no Renault car production in China. Perhaps supplies from Turkey will be established, where many models of the company are produced," Morgiaretto believes.

Switch to analogs

Adding Renault to the sanctions list does not contradict the possibility of parallel import of spare parts to Russia, Mikhail Khachaturian believes.

"Despite the fact that the list of goods for which such parallel imports are officially permitted is constantly being reviewed, Renault, like other French, German, Swedish, American, and Japanese automakers, have not been excluded from it and are not planning to be excluded," he told Izvestia.

Izvestia sent a corresponding request to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

A large number of analog spare parts for popular Renault models are available to Russian car owners, said Nikita Rodionov, technical director of the international franchise network of car service Fit Service.

— Over the past few years, we have noted a steady trend towards an increase in the consumption of spare parts from the economy category — duplicates from good manufacturers, but affordable. Therefore, there will be no shortage after the company is included in the Russian sanctions list. Of course, some parts do not have duplicates, it is the originals that need to be installed, but here the problem has already been solved. The necessary original is supplied to the market using the parallel import mechanism, the expert noted. He suggested that the impact on the availability and cost of spare parts would be minimal.

Expensive and long

In the medium term, we should expect higher prices and longer delivery times, especially for electronic and body parts, says Timur Tursunov, head of the analytics department at the distributor of Russian auto parts.

— Most likely, the share of non-original and local analogues in the market will grow. For Renault owners, this means that they will be able to service their car as before, but most likely longer, more expensive and not always with original parts. The quality of analogues on the market is now very good and is often not inferior, but even surpasses the original," he believes.