Italy’s Fiat Group CEO secures high-level political support for its Russia operations
MOSCOW, Russia — Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of the Italy-based Fiat Auto Group, must have been more than satisfied with the results of his recent business trip to Moscow, where he penned a series of strategic agreements with local partners with the blessings of the country’s top political leadership.
Under the watchful of the powerful Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, Marchionne put his signature to agreements between Fiat Group and Kamaz, Russia’s heavy-duty automaking giant, which envisage the setting up a joint venture between the two automakers that will produce agro and other specialized vehicles under the Fiat Group’s Case New Holland brand in Kamaz facilities and another separate joint venture that will undertake the promotion of the Case New Holland branded vehicles in the country and elsewhere.
On the Russian side, the strategic agreements were penned by Sergei Chemizov, the president and CEO of the state-owned Russian Technologies Corp. which controls RosAvto, another state holding that owns Kamaz amongst other key assets across all segments of the Russian economy. All these are in addition to Fiat Group’s robust cooperation with Sollers, another major local automaker, which the Italian giant has also agreed to produce SUV models for the Russian market.
Commenting on the deals, Putin noted that Russia attaches huge importance to cooperation with the Italian giant. “With Fiat, we have good long-standing relations spreading over several decades, and specifically, the Dutch subsidiary, which is one of the leaders on the global market, which has equally excelled in Russia. This is why I view the agreement reached between Fiat and Kamaz today as a very important step forward,” he added. “Going forward, I would like to assure Fiat that all the concluded agreements will be seriously analyzed, and of course, we, at the government level, will offer all the support that Fiat will need in the realization of these agreements with its Russian partners.”
Reacting, Marchionne noted that he was glad that Fiat was able to find new partners with whom it can realize its business plans on the Russian market. “It is very important for us to be on the Russian market. We understand the need for maximum localization of our production here, and we are happy that Kamaz has the necessary facilities and infrastructure that will enable us to do so in Russia in the shortest timeframe.”
Web design,