What the war in Ukraine has to do with the cars of Latvians, Ukrainians and Russians Why the Ukrainians are not at all happy with the Oscar of Putin enemy Navalny

Ukrainian refugees have to hand in their cars

Until now, refugees from Ukraine with protection status S have enjoyed a number of privileges. Take the car, for example: despite the assistance, they were allowed to keep their car and use it freely.

As government councilor Christoph Amstad van Obwalden explained to SRF in November, this privilege made sense to her at first:

But then it became clear that the war would last longer, said the vice-chairman of the Conference of Cantonal Social Directors SODK. For this reason, the SODK board has decided to abolish this privilege: those who still live in Switzerland after twelve months and receive social assistance benefits must sell their car.

The cantons only make exceptions if the car is necessary for health reasons or for work.

The Swiss Refugee Aid understands this step. Spokeswoman Eliane Engeler told SRF last November:

Depending on the canton, several hundred people are expected to be affected by the new regulation. Research of 20 minutes shows that there are currently 141 refugees from Ukraine with a car registered in Lucerne, of whom 132 received social assistance benefits in February.

One of them is Viacheslab Bondarchuk. He was a change manager in Ukraine, earned 200,000 euros a year and built a house, he tells the free newspaper. At the beginning of the war he fled to Switzerland with his children. At that time there was only 20,000 euros in his account, the rest was in assets. All he has left is his Tesla.

Although he found work in June last year, it was limited to February. That is why Bondarchuk has been dependent on social assistance again since February. If he doesn’t find a job in a month or two, he’ll have to sell his Tesla. The 52-year-old does not understand that: he lives with his two children and two friends in Winkel, Zurich. The costs of public transport would be much higher than the low running costs of the car.

Drunk people in Latvia have their cars removed and sent to Ukraine

In Latvia, too, cars are separated from their owners. However for other reasons. On February 13, the Latvian government decided to confiscate cars owned by drunk drivers and hand them over to the Ukrainian army.

Previously, in November 2022, new amendments to the Penal Code came into effect, making driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol level above 1.5 a criminal offence. They also allow the government to confiscate and auction cars owned by drunk drivers. However, the number of seized cars was so high that the authorities could no longer keep up with the auctions. Within two months, 200 cars were seized in the Baltic state from drivers with blood levels above 1.5 promille.

When the confiscation agencies were running out of space, the Latvian Finance Minister Arvils Aseradens came up with the brilliant idea: the cars could just be sent to the Ukraine! He was inspired by the Latvian charity Twitter Convoy, which had already transported 1,200 cars to Ukraine. Aseradens made a deal with the same organization: every week he would give her 24 cars to donate to Ukraine.

As part of the new initiative, the first convoy of eight passenger cars left the Latvian capital Riga last Wednesday.

Russia produces garbage trucks

In June last year, Russian automaker Avtovaz announced it would resume production of the Lada after a three-month hiatus. A press release said:

At the same time, Avtovaz admitted that the range was limited due to the sanctions. The equipment of the newly produced vehicles was also limited. Due to the offensive war in Ukraine, Russia was subjected to various sanctions, which were reflected, among other things, in a lack of components.

ABS, ESP, GPS, belt tensioners and airbags were missing in the 2022 Lada Granta Classic model.

However, this model was not produced for a long time. Just 4 months later, production of the 2022 Lada Granta Classic would have stopped again, the leading car website motor.ru reported last October. Instead, production of the Lada Granta Classic 22 Advance version began. This not only has airbags again, but also Era Glonass (an electric emergency call system) and an audio system with USB, SD card and Bluetooth support. Air conditioning is not installed in this model. This is only available on the Classic 22 Air Conditioner model – but at the cost of the airbag and audio system.

Anyone who wants to buy a Lada in Russia must now dig deeper into their pockets. As the Russian newspaper 74.ru reported on March 1, the prices of Lada models have increased. Alexander Rulevsky, an expert on the automotive market and head of the Department of Automobiles and Automobile Service at South Ural State University, suspects that plant management is offsetting the logistics costs. He explained to 74.ru:

Kazakhstan no longer wants to sell cars to Russians

Due to rising car prices, Russians are looking for cheaper alternatives. An undercover journalist from the Russian site Autonews.ru does the same. He traveled to Kazakhstan at the end of January and visited several car dealers to see if it was possible to buy a vehicle in the neighboring country.

Without success: a Hyundai car dealer refused to sell the Russian a car. According to Autonews.ru, the seller could not give a real reason. Problems with paperwork were pointed out at another Hyundai car dealership. Kia, on the other hand, was more direct and told him that they could only have sold him the car with a valid residence permit in Kazakhstan. The journalist also failed at Toyota, Volkswagen, the Chinese brand Chery and even Lada.

Anton Shaparin, vice president of Russia’s National Autombil-Union (NAS), told Autonews.ru that the decision to limit car sales to Russians was “political”:

In most cases, the Russian population has no choice but to buy the car domestically. This would then either have to be expensive or – with cheaper models – dangerous.