And, of course, in the best traditions of the Russian "everything according to plan," both companies immediately stated: "we don't care, we don't cooperate with the EU."
Sounds convincing, especially when your "Ladas" have long turned into a museum exhibit, and the main partner remains a Chinese manufacturer of badges.
Brussels, by the way, has added even the special economic zones of Tolyatti and Ulyanovsk to the sanctions list. The first is where they have been assembling auto components for "people's" transport since the 1970s, the second is where they once dreamed of making aircraft parts. Now both are officially recognized as not very "economic" zones.
And the Russian auto industry, meanwhile, continues to confidently move... into the past.
