Hyundai has lost $500,000,000 in assets in Russia 0 12

The Hyundai Motor Company has decided not to buy back its Russian assets, as reported by Gazeta.Ru. The production facility, owned by the Koreans since 2008, has finally transferred to the Russian entity LLC "AGR." According to the most modest estimates, the Korean conglomerate has lost at least half a billion dollars — that is how much Hyundai invested in the construction and localization of production in Russia.

The former Russian plant of Hyundai Motor Company (from 2024 — "AGR Automobile Plant") will remain in the ownership of the Russian automotive holding LLC "AGR." A source close to the Russian holding told the media that the current owner plans to establish an even larger production scale than currently exists. This was confirmed by the former head of the Association of Russian Automobile Dealers (ROAD) Oleg Moseev, who stated, "Yes, Hyundai's assets remain with AGR."

In December 2025, Reuters reported, citing the headquarters of Hyundai Motor Company, that a final decision on the buyback of assets in Russia has not yet been made. At the same time, an unnamed source in Seoul told agency journalists that the return of Korean assets in Russia under current conditions is impossible due to the ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.

How the Deadline Came About

In January 2024, the company "Art-Finance" (later renamed "AGR Automobile Plant," part of LLC "AGR") acquired LLC "Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus" — the legal entity responsible for assembling Hyundai cars in Russia. The deal included two car plants near St. Petersburg: the main one in Kamyanka, and additionally — the mothballed former GM plant in Shushary. The contract amount was a symbolic 140,000 won (about 100 euros), but the contract specifically included the possibility of a buyback of the enterprise within two years. This period expires on January 31, 2026.

Immediately after the contract was formalized, the former Hyundai plant resumed operations, which had been halted in March 2022 due to sanctions. The AGR company established the production of Korean cars under the Solaris brand. In particular, under this brand, all the same models of Hyundai and Kia that were previously produced by the enterprise are now being assembled.

Lost Half a Billion Dollars

In 2007, Hyundai Motor Company opened a representative office "Hyundai Motor CIS" for the import and distribution of its cars. By the middle of the following year, the favorable market situation allowed for a doubling of sales of Korean cars, firmly establishing the brand among the best-selling.

In 2008, construction of the plant began on a site of 200 hectares in the industrial zone of Kamyanka near St. Petersburg, with production starting two years later. According to various estimates, the total investments by Hyundai in the assembly plant and neighboring satellite enterprises amounted to about $500 million.

What Went to AGR "as a Package" with the Hyundai Plant

According to Hyundai, the plant's capacity is up to 230,000 cars per year. The production processes at the facility include assembly, painting, welding, and stamping shops. In particular, the site has four stamping presses with forces ranging from 800 to 2300 tons, which is quite rare for assembly plants in Russia.

In addition to its own investments, the Korean automotive giant "brought" a wide pool of its suppliers to Russia. These include automotive component facilities from companies such as Hysco (steel supplies), Mobis (plastic components), Daewon (seats), as well as Donghee, Doowon, NVH, Yura, Han Il Tube, which collectively invested $280 million. At the time of production launch, the localization level of the brand's bestseller — the Solaris sedan — exceeded 50%.

With the increase in demand, the head enterprise was constantly modernized. In the record year of 2019 for the enterprise, 245,000 cars rolled off the assembly line of the "Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus" plant. For 2022, a plan was set at 240,000 with a formal maximum capacity of 230,000.

No Chances

As long as South Korea lives under sanctions against Russia, no production can officially take place here, believes Igor Morzharetto, a partner at the analytical agency "Autostat."

"The fact that the Koreans refused to buy back the assets is, on one hand, very unfortunate, but on the other hand, it is clear that they simply could not do it physically," noted Morzharetto. According to the interlocutor, the company "AGR" is currently actively seeking "partners from the eastern country" to load its capacities.

Automotive expert Oleg Moseev expressed the opinion that this partnership will be an expansion of cooperation with the Chery group. At the same time, the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Za Rulem" Maxim Kadakov noted that the current market does not require an increase in the production of new cars.

"If we had more plants of this scale, it would be good, but for that, there also needs to be a corresponding market capacity. All the recently relaunched plants are not needed in such volume — so many cars simply cannot be sold," the expert concluded.