Hyundai ends its operations in Russia as a local company acquires its two car factories.

On Friday, the South Korean carmaker announced that it had signed a deal to sell its two Russian plants, becoming the latest global automaker to exit Russia since the start of the Ukraine conflict.

On Jan. 24, Art-Finance, the Russian buyer, announced that it had completed the acquisition of Hyundai's St. Petersburg plants and obtained necessary approvals from the Russian government and federal anti-monopoly service.

In February 2022, most European, Japanese, and South Korean carmakers halted production and exited the Russian market after Moscow sent troops to Ukraine. They often sold their vehicles for a minimal fee due to Russia's challenges in extracting funds.

In December, Hyundai Motor announced that it planned to sell its Russian assets for 10,000 roubles ($111.69), resulting in a 287 billion won ($214.7 million) loss. The company's main plant operations were suspended in March 2022.

On Friday, Hyundai Motor announced that it had finalized a deal to sell its manufacturing facilities in Russia, although it did not disclose the identity of the buyer, Art-Finance, with whom it had previously stated it was in talks.

Hyundai's assets have been incorporated into Art-Finance's AGR Group, which includes two production sites in St Petersburg: a factory in the Kamenka industrial zone and a factory in the Shushary industrial zone.

Before Hyundai bought the second factory in 2020, it had previously belonged to General Motors. The two factories have a combined annual capacity of approximately 300,000 vehicles.

Andrei Pavlovich, the owner of Art-Finance, acquired Volkswagen's Russian assets in May 2023 and renamed the factory to AGR Automotive. The Hyundai plant will be renamed once all registration procedures are complete, according to Art-Finance.

Hyundai announced in December that it would continue to provide post-sales services for existing vehicles in Russia, taking into account local conditions.

As Western carmakers withdrew from Russia, Chinese carmakers filled the void, but now Chinese car sales have plateaued at over 56% of the market as Russia's domestic production slightly recovers.