Volkswagen, along with other foreign automakers, suspended operations in Russia last year after Western countries imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.
It has been trying to sell its Russian assets, including its flagship plant in the city of Kaluga, which has a production capacity of 225,000 vehicles a year and has been suspended since March 2022.
Russian automaker GAZ, which was contracted to produce Volkswagen vehicles at its Nizhny Novgorod factory, tried to halt any sales as part of a lawsuit after Volkswagen terminated the production deal in August.
In court documents, GAZ said Volkswagen’s attempts to exit the Russian market put its own interests at risk and is seeking 15.6 billion rubles ($201.3 million) in damages for termination of the contract.
A Russian court agreed on Monday to freeze all Volkswagen assets in Russia pending the dispute with GAZ, court documents showed, further hurting VW’s attempts to shut down its Russian operations.