Oleg Deripaska's business, which has been under US sanctions since 2018, is faced with a new problem. Swedish Quintus Technologies AB refused to supply GAZ Group with parts for a stamping press due to the threat of sanctions.
The GAZ Group did not deny the seriousness of the situation and confirmed to the Daily Storm that the problem is indeed critical for the plant: «Parts for GAZ vehicles are manufactured on the hydroelastic stamping press of Quintus Technologies AB. The stoppage of the press, which may occur due to the lack of spare parts necessary for its service, will be critical for the operation of ».
"Swedish equipment was used to create details for the installation batch of Next generation machines. Among other things - the hood for the best-selling Gazelle GAZelle Next".
It should be noted that the press was delivered by Quintus Technologies AB to GAZ back in 2011, and the issue of wear of its parts and preventive repairs may become very acute. At the same time, GAZ admits that no solution to the problem is foreseen yet: there are no alternative suppliers of parts for this press - only Quintus Technologies AB itself produces them for it.
As a source familiar with the automotive industry explained to the Daily Storm, theoretically, in the case of spare parts for Quintus Technologies equipment, it is possible to order them from a third-party manufacturer, but everything depends on the circumstances: «Somewhere not quite suitable equipment, somewhere the question does not arise quality, somewhere manufacturers are not interested in small volumes, somewhere they are afraid of sanctions in the same way, and somewhere very expensive or long logistics».
The situation when a stop of just one press can complicate the production process of a leading Russian automobile plant, whose products last year occupied 44% of the light commercial vehicle (LCV) market, turned out to be so serious that it attracted the attention of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting with representatives of the Association of European business.
The minister called the actions of the Swedish company «discriminatory» and committed under an «absolutely far-fetched pretext».
The fact is that, as noted by Kommersant, today the only GAZ products that can somehow be associated with a dual purpose are Ural cars, which are in service with the Ministry of Defense and the National Guard. But in 2019, the Ural plant left the GAZ group, passing under the control of Dmitry Strezhnev, although it continues to be a participant in the special investment contract of GAZ, which involves maintaining cooperation in the supply of components.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that in the future, similar situations may repeat. The current generation of «GAZelle Next» was created in close cooperation with foreign companies. Its tests were carried out, among other things, at the proving grounds of the European technical service AT IDIADA. In the new model, which is preparing to enter the assembly line, «GAZelle NN», the number of parts of foreign production or from foreign suppliers should also be significant.
A source familiar with the production of GAZ confirmed these fears: The current generation of GAZelle Next was created in close cooperation with global suppliers of components. Some parts, mainly those that are not produced in Russia in principle, are supplied from abroad.
