Ukraine's anti-corruption agency adds automaker Geely to list of international war sponsors

This was reported by the NACP.

“Geely continues to pay taxes to Russia's budget, actively support its economy and, accordingly, sponsor aggression against Ukraine at a time when most car manufacturers from Europe, Japan and Korea have stopped selling on the Russian market after the invasion of Ukraine,” the press service said.

The company is reportedly owned by billionaire Chinese private entrepreneur Li Shufu and has several brands, including Geely Auto, Lynk & Co, Zeekr, Volvo Cars, Polestar, Lotus, London Electric Vehicle Company, Farizon Auto, CAOCAO Mobility.

In 2022, Geely entered the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest companies and ranked 229th.

The automaker's chief executive officer, Daniel Lee, said he did not want to force his companies to leave the Russian market: “I don't understand at all why we should force each of our car brands to punish the Russian customer.”

“He personally supported Geely's decision to increase car sales in Russia after global competitors left the market following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Thus, sales of Geely-branded cars in Russia in the first three months of 2023 more than doubled compared to last year, from 5,543 units to 1,2673 units,” the agency said.

Last year, Geely Auto Group's revenue amounted to more than USD 20 billion.

The distributor of the Geely brand in Russia is Jili-Motors LLC, which increased its revenue by 82% to USD 800 million in 2022, net profit by 5105% to USD 201 million, and paid more than USD 51.4 million in taxes to the Russian budget.

New Geely cars continue to be launched and sold in Russia. As of May this year, there are 157 official dealerships in 89 cities.

The company's management did not condemn Russia's war against Ukraine.

As stated on the NACP website, the purpose of being included in the list of international sponsors of war is to reduce Russia's resources for waging war through non-sanctioned instruments (without involving the resources of allied countries). This list also serves to draw attention in the global media space to the company declared an 'international war sponsor' and to the war in general.

To be removed from the register, a designated company must:

• withdraw from the Russian market or stop doing business with Russia; 
• or provide a realistic, achievable exit plan in the short term, together with written and public guarantees to ensure its implementation by a specified date;
• or cease all business operations in Russia, leaving only a formal presence there due to the difficulties of exiting.

On June 16, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption for the first time removed the first company from the list of international sponsors of the war - Irish Peninsula Petroleum Limited.

As of June 16, the NACP had added 29 companies to the list of international sponsors of the war. Among them are, in particular, Chinese Xiaomi and Great Wall, Hungarian OTP Bank, Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International, Bonduelle, French chain Auchan, German Metro and other companies.