French carmaker Renault resumed production at its Moscow factory on Monday. However, the return will last only three days, the group’s spokesperson Rie Yamane confirmed to CNN on Tuesday.
“Renault Russia has confirmed the restart [of production] on Monday but only for three days,” Yamane said. She declined to provide more details when CNN asked why the company is restarting its production for three days.
On Feb. 28, Renault halted production following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, CNN’s French affiliate BFMTV reported.
Russia was a key piece in Renault’s global empire before the war broke out. With 482,264 cars sold in 2021, Russia was the second most important market for Renault, ranking only behind the carmaker’s home base in France in terms of sales volume, according to the group’s 2021 sales results.
Renault owns major Russian car manufacturer AvtoVAZ, whose brand Lada represented nearly 21% of the Russian market in 2021. Lada Vesta and Lada Granta were the two most popular car models in Russia in 2021, according to Renault Group’s 2021 financial results.
Renault's share price has dropped by more than 26% since Russia launched the invasion on February 24, according to data from the Paris stock exchange.
The French state is the biggest single shareholder of Renault, holding 15.01% of the share at the end of 2020, according to data from the group.
The French Finance Ministry declined CNN’s request for a comment on Renault resuming car production in Moscow.