The impact of war in Ukraine and the sanctions on Russian business has hit production and sales with obviously negative consequences for the transport providers.

“Transportation of finished vehicles has dipped tremendously,” says Ekaterina Golubeva, sales and marketing director of the Russian transport company Vectura. “Currently, from the total fleet of car carriers in our company, no more than 20-30% of trucks continue to operate. Even [that] percentage is [only] secured thanks to a diversified portfolio of customers,”

Golubeva says some competitors are doing far worse, having their fleets standing completely idle, being forced to send drivers on vacations and dismiss at least half of office stuff.

The current crisis is hitting Russian finished vehicle logistics hard. Most companies are yet to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and were looking forward to 2022 with some optimism, hoping to repay debts and improve financial health.