Putin: Russia Risks Losing Sovereignty Without Domestic Production

By Staff, Agencies

President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia could forfeit its sovereignty if it abandons domestic manufacturing in favor of relying solely on oil and gas revenues to import foreign goods.

In an interview released Sunday with journalist Pavel Zarubin, Putin emphasized the importance of “technological independence,” defending decades-long efforts to localize automobile production as essential to protecting Russia’s political and economic autonomy.

“If we buy everything with oil and gas revenues—and now they [the West] are trying to cut us off from oil and gas—then Russia will simply lose its competitiveness, and with it, its sovereignty,” Putin stated.

He recalled that in the 1990s, many government officials favored importing foreign-made vehicles instead of developing Russia’s car industry, a position he said he strongly opposed. The shift toward localization began with licensed assembly partnerships with Western companies, before Russia tightened domestic production requirements in the 2010s.

“This was serious work. We were essentially creating our own cars,” Putin said, noting that this strategy paid off after Western firms exited Russia following the 2022 escalation in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions.

Russia sold approximately 1.571 million new passenger vehicles in 2024, a 48% increase from the previous year. Lada maintained its lead with 28% of total sales [436,155 units], while the rest of the top ten brands were Chinese, according to Autostat. Kamaz remained the leading truck supplier despite an overall decline in truck sales.

Putin has long promoted Russian auto brands, frequently appearing in Lada and Kamaz vehicles, and using a luxury Aurus limousine as his presidential car. In 2024, he gifted Aurus limousines to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.