This issue was raised by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, August 3, at a meeting with heads of manufacturing companies. The head of state said he was approached by representatives of various state agencies, who asked that they be allowed to continue buying foreign-made cars.
“I said that this should be absolutely ruled out and all officials in the country should drive domestic cars,” Putin stressed.
As Spiridonov recalled, proposals to transfer officials and deputies to Russian cars have been heard for a long time.
“And today both the political and economic conditions are right for this decision. The absolute majority of the country’s inhabitants support the president’s initiative,” he said.
According to him, this is partly due “to the fact that in Russia there was once a stereotypical image of an official, isolated from ordinary people.”
“The situation, it seems to me, has changed, but the people support any decision that reduces that distance,” said the parliamentarian.
In addition, he recalled, the national author is going through difficult times, so additional support through government orders will only be a plus.
“But in the meantime, one must understand that the mileage of most official cars is very high,” Spiridonov added, “and manufacturers will have to carefully monitor the reliability of components and build quality.”
As for car brands, most likely the main part of the fleet will consist of Lada, the deputy chairman of the committee believes.
“There is a lot of talk and outrage on the internet that everyone will be transferred to Aurus.
Of course, this is not going to happen, since this is a premium class car and they will only be for senior management,” said the deputy.
Under such circumstances, he noted, the return of the legendary “Volga” as a “government” car could be triumphant.
In any case, Spiridonov drew attention, the replacement will go smoothly as the existing fleet of vehicles becomes obsolete.
