OREANDA-NEWS  The Russian automaker AvtoVAZ is not going to abandon plans to supply Lada cars to the Iranian market due to the aggravation in the Middle East and wants to start deliveries as early as 2024. Maxim Sokolov, the head of the company, told reporters about this, RIA Novosti reports.

According to him, any crises pass one way or another, and the Iranian market at AvtoVAZ is regarded as promising. By now, the sales infrastructure is ready.

Sokolov did not disclose the volume of planned supplies to the Islamic Republic, but assessed it as quite serious. Last year, the Iranian car market exceeded one million units, so the demand there is good.

Earlier, the president of AvtoVAZ proposed to increase the recycling fee in Russia to one million rubles by 2029. All manufacturers and exporters have to pay this amount, but the state compensates Russian companies for it.

According to Sokolov, without such support, domestic automakers will not be able to compete with Chinese companies, which, due to discounts, even with the current level of recycling, successfully enter traditional niches of Russian products.

Iran, like Russia, is under Western sanctions and actively buys products from the Chinese automotive industry. Thus, AvtoVAZ may face the same rivals in the market of this country.