TBILISI, Georgia — Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un laughed and joked as they drove around Pyongyang last week in a Russian-made Aurus limousine in a show of their stronger anti-Western alliance.
The luxury sedan designed to demonstrate Russia’s domestic strength and reduce dependence on imported technology and goods when unveiled in 2018.
But customs records show the company that built it used millions of dollars of imported components, many of which were shipped to Russia from what Mr Kim described as his country’s “main enemy”, South Korea.
The imports show Russia remains dependent on Western technology as it seeks to counter Western efforts to cut it off from global supply chains as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine.
The two leaders took turns driving an armored limousine during Putin’s lavish visit, his first to North Korea in nearly a quarter of a century, to demonstrate the increasingly close ties between two nuclear powers.
Russia to import equipment and components worth at least $34 million from 2018 to 2023 to assemble Aurus and motorbikeCustoms records reviewed by Reuters show. Reuters did not have access to more recent data.
Imports include vehicle body parts, sensors, programmable controllers, switches, welding equipment and other components worth nearly 15.5 million USD imported from Korea. Parts are also imported from ChinaIndia, Türkiye, Italy and other EU countries.
Foreign supplies to Aurus continued to arrive after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with nearly $16 million worth of goods, including $5 million made in South Korea, imported since February 2022, records show.
Reuters was unable to specifically determine which imported foreign parts were in the car given to Kim, and the imports did not violate sanctions – Aurus LLC was sanctioned by the United States in February 2024.
The Aurus sedan was developed by Russia’s state research institute NAMI in cooperation with Russian automaker Sollers, which later sold its shares.
Aurus Motors and Chief Executive Officer Andrey Pankov did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the use of foreign parts, including those from South Korea, in the company’s products.
Who is the supplier?
The company officially launched production in Russia’s Tatarstan region, about 1,000 km (620 miles) from Moscow, in 2021 – before that, it was produced on a small, pilot scale at NAMI. It will begin additional production in St Petersburg later this year at by Toyota old factory.
Toyota is one of many foreign automakers to leave the Russian market since the invasion, which Russia calls a “special event.” army work”.
The exodus left a gap that Chinese manufacturers quickly filled, quickly capturing more than half of the market share and exposing Russia’s limited domestic production capacity.
Korean companies are among the biggest suppliers to Aurus, including industrial equipment maker Kyungki Industrial Co, auto body parts maker BYT CO LTD and the battery Supplier Enertech International Inc.
Italian plastic components maker Industrie Ilpea Spa and Hong Kong company Rain Electronics also supplied goods.
An official at Kyungki Industrial Co confirmed that the company has supplied components to Aurus LLC and continues to do so. The company is not concerned about any potential sanctions, the official said, but declined to provide further details.
Rain Electronics could not be reached for comment. When a Reuters reporter visited the address listed on the internet as the company’s Hong Kong office, there was no trace of Rain Electronics on the floor listed online or in the office building.
BYT CO LTD, Enertech International and Industrie Ilpea Spa did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The Aurus Senat, a retro-style of the Soviet-era ZIL limousine, is the official car of the Russian president and was used by Putin at his presidential inaugurations in 2018 and 2024.
Putin has now given Kim, who is said to be a car enthusiast, two Aurus cars, the first during Kim’s visit to Russia in February and another car model in North Korea in June.
Prices for the Aurus – available in four models including an SUV and an armored version – start at 46.625 million rubles ($528,356). Customers include Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdymukhamedov.
Aurus sold 107 cars in Russia in 2023, according to data from Russia’s analytical agency Autostat. Aurus did not disclose production numbers.
