One of the largest manufacturers of Chinese cars is included in the list of international sponsors of the war
The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has included a large Chinese private automobile company on the list of international sponsors of the war. The reason was the company’s reluctance to exit the Russian market and plans to further expand business in the terrorist state.
Great Wall Motor is the eighth largest car manufacturer in China. The owner is Chinese billionaire Wei Jianjun, who owns 55.78% of the shares of Great Wall Motor. The company manufactures and sells cars under its own brands such as GWM, Haval, WEY, TANK, POER, ORA.
After the full-scale Russian military invasion of Ukraine, many international companies have decided to leave the Russian market, but Great Wall Motor says it has no immediate plans to exit Russia and is looking at the long-term perspective of its more than 3 billion yuan ($472 million) investment in that market), this was announced by the secretary of the board of Great Wall, Xu Hui.
As of 2023, Russia is Great Wall’s largest sales market outside of China. Last year, the Russian Federation accounted for about 30% of Great Wall’s revenues abroad.
Thus, in 2019, the company’s first foreign plant for full-scale car production was put into operation in the Russian city of Tula.
The HAVAL Russian factory produces HAVAL F7 and HAVAL F7x intelligent crossovers, HAVAL JOLION and HAVAL H9 frame SUV.
In 2022, the Great Wall Motor company presented the new Tank brand to the Russian market and plans to bring the Poer KingKong pickup truck, and in 2023, the T300 and T500 SUVs will enter the Russian market.
Currently, there are 115 Great Wall Motor dealerships in the Russian Federation.
According to the results of 2022, the Great Wall Motor concern shows record indicators of revenue and foreign sales, as well as a significant increase in profit. All this became possible, including thanks to the Russian market, from which many of the company’s competitors came.
In the reporting of the concern, it is noted that sales in the Russian Federation in 2021 amounted to 4.973 billion yuan (about $780 million), which is twice as much compared to 2020 – 2.2 billion yuan.
According to the results of 2022, on the Russian car market, the plant “Haveil Motor Manufacturing Rus” ranks second in terms of net profit – $340 million.
In 2023, Great Wall Motor intends to increase the sale of its products by 50.9% to 1.6 million units, and the plans for a 50% increase in the production and sale of finished products should proportionally “echo” in Russia.
Thus, Great Wall Motor continues to pay significant taxes to the budget of the aggressor country, actively support its economy and, accordingly, sponsor the war against Ukraine. There was no attempt by the company’s management to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Being on the list of international sponsors of war is a powerful reputational tool. All listed companies are included in World-Check, a database of high-risk individuals and organizations used worldwide to identify and manage financial, regulatory and reputational risks. Interaction with the World-Check database helps to protect the international financial sector from Russian war sponsors, cooperation with which is dangerous for socially responsible business.
The role of the NACP in sanctions policy is defined in the Individual Sanctions Roadmap developed by the Stanford International Working Group on Russian Sanctions.
It will be recalled that the Working Group presented a new action plan for strengthening sanctions against Russia. The NACP will continue its work in the direction of individual sanctions against Russians guilty of the war.
