Russian government institutions have continued to purchase foreign vehicles despite Vladimir Putin's directive to transition officials to domestic cars. In the week following the president's statement, government structures announced at least 6 tenders for foreign cars, totaling 53.5 million rubles, as calculated by "Vyorstka" based on public procurement data.
Specifically, the Putin administration itself has no plans to abandon foreign cars. On August 9th, the combined sanatorium "Sochi," controlled by the presidential administration, announced a tender for the purchase of a minivan for 9.2 million rubles. The make and model of the car are not specified in the documents, but its specifications and likely price match those of a Mercedes-Benz V-Class.
The most expensive car is being purchased by JSC "Razvitie Sela," established by the Ministry of Land and Property Relations of Mordovia. It is also a minivan – a Mercedes-Benz V 300 d 4MATIC. However, significantly more money has been allocated for it – 18.1 million rubles. The tender indicates that supposedly "Razvitie Sela" is not a state customer and therefore can avoid the ban on purchasing foreign industrial goods. However, in reality, "Razvitie Sela" functions as a regional fund, financing agricultural enterprises. In 2022, the fund was criticized by the head of Mordovia, Artem Zdunov. The reason was that for two years, "Razvitie Sela" concluded 90% of contracts only with one company and "served the interests of a private enterprise."
FGUP "National Fishery Resources," subordinated to the Federal Agency for Fishery, allocated an additional 13 million rubles for foreign cars. The enterprise intends to acquire a Kia Sorento Black Edition for 6 million rubles, as well as a luxury-class Chinese sedan, the Hongqi H9, for 7.5 million rubles.
The Federal Research Center for Animal Husbandry named after Ernst also plans to purchase Chinese cars – two Chery Tiggo7 ProMax vehicles for a total of 6 million rubles.
In addition, a tender for a foreign car was announced by the Yekaterinburg Palace of Aquatic Sports. The institution plans to buy a seven-seater crossover for 6.6 million rubles. The make and model of the car are not specified in the documents.
On August 3rd, Vladimir Putin stated that Russian officials should switch from foreign cars to domestic ones. He made this statement after representatives of ministries requested the continuation of the practice of purchasing foreign cars. "I said that this should be absolutely excluded. And all officials of the country should drive domestic cars," said the president.
