German automotive company Daimler opened its new Mercedes-Benz factory near Moscow on Wednesday (April 3, 2019). The opening ceremony with the participation of President Vladimir Putin claims the place in history as one of the rare days in which the Russian automotive industry has lived for the last ten years.

 

    The Russian car market, which had a very good performance since the beginning of the 2000s, had almost stopped for the last six years due to the economic sanctions of the western countries and the stagnant economy. Established in the town of Esipovo, about 40 km north-west of Moscow, the Mercedes factory is the first foreign capital investment to be made to the struggling sector in years.

 

 In his speech at the opening ceremony, President Putin said that the total amount of the investment is 19 billion rubles and that the factory will produce 25,000 cars annually. Putin, who announced that the factory was set up with an agreement signed between Russian authorities and Daimler in 2017, added that 1000 people were employed by the factory.

 

 Until 2012, automobile sales in Russia have reached its peak, and most of the global automotive manufacturers have built many factories in Russia until this date. Later on, the market was in a constant decline, and in 2016 hit the bottom. The automobile sales at the end of that year amounted to 1.42 million units. In the market, which has inclined to be recovering for the last two years, last year's automobile production was 1.8 million units.