Austrian entrepreneur Siegfried Wolf has no qualms about continuing to do business in Russia. There he is a bargain hunter in the car industry.
Siegfried Wolf obviously thinks big. In June 2021, the former Magna boss took over the truck plant of the German MAN group and 2,000 employees in Steyr.
His plan was to have thousands of vans and minibuses of the Russian brand GAZ roll off the assembly line in Upper Austria for the world market. At GAZ, until recently still a company of the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, Wolf is co-owner. But Russia’s war in Ukraine thwarted that plan – due to the sanctions.
Good capacity utilization at Wolf’s company
Nevertheless, the native of Styria cannot complain about the capacity utilization of the Steyr plant. By the end of September 2023, Wolf’s company Steyr Automotive die Truck production for MAN continue.
At the same time, the production of fully electric trucks for the Swedish company Volta will start, the production capacity in Upper Austria should be around 14,000 vehicles per year. At the same time, Steyr entered into a partnership with the crane manufacturer Palfinger for the assembly of forklifts, received a listing from VW as a certified supplier and recently initiated the takeover of the garbage truck and street sweeper division of the Stockerau-based company MUT.
Anyone who thinks that the passionate hunter and golfer, winery owner and classic car fan is busy with this is mistaken.
Since 2010 in Russia
Because Wolf has mainly pitched his business tents in Russia since autumn 2010. At that time he docked with the oligarch Deripaska and is still a ten percent shareholder of the Russian car manufacturer GAZ. Despite the sanctions, the native of Styria did not put the Russian business on hold.
On the contrary: in Russia, the businessman is a kind of bargain hunter. Wolf points to the works of European automakers who are withdrawing from Russia. For example, the German automotive supplier Schaeffler, where Wolf sits on the supervisory board, sold its Russian plant (150 employees) to PromAvtoKonsalt – a Wolf company.
The bustling manager also wanted to get to grips with Volkswagen’s business in Russia Spiegel incorporated and subsequently revive the Russian car industry with financial help from the Kremlin. To do this, he asked Putin for a government loan worth the equivalent of 800 million euros.
Critics call Wolf’s Russia plans “a touch of megalomania”, Wolf’s friends call it “visionary”.
But nothing came of this VW-Russia deal – despite the best personal connections to Vladimir Putin. According to Spiegel, the Russian car dealer Avilon has been awarded the contract by VW. People close to him assume that Wolf will go through with his plans even without the VW plant in Kaluga at GAZ. The fact that GAZ confiscated the assets of (former) business partner VW in Russia by court order in March is another story.
Starpix / picturedesk.com/Starpix/picturedesk.comSiegfried Wolf’s Biggest Coup
Wolf is considered extremely ambitious. The trained toolmaker began his meteoric career in 1995 when the Austro-Canadian Frank Stronach recruited from the Hirtenberger company and brought on board at Magna. Wolf rose to become Magna’s European head and became Frank’s right-hand man. Wolf managed the biggest coup in 1997. On behalf of Magna, he bought the company for four billion schillings Vehicle technology group Steyr Daimler Puch (SDP) in Graz from the Creditanstalt.
“Back then, everyone said he was crazy,” says one of Wolf’s companions. “But it turned out to be the most profitable and successful investment Magna has ever made. That was a money-printing machine for Magna.” From then on, numerous car companies such as BMW, Chrysler, Mini, Nissan and Daimler had their vehicles produced in Graz.
From 2005, the father of two daughters was the top boss of Magna International for five years. In May 2007, oligarch Deripaska bought a stake in Magna for more than one billion euros, but the financial crisis forced him to sell the package again in 2008. A year later, Magna boss Wolf wanted to buy a majority stake in the German car manufacturer Opel with the Russian Sberbank because the US parent company General Motors was facing bankruptcy. In the end, Americans got cold feet. The deal fell through.
KURIER/Schraml WilhelmNot just friends
After moving to Russia, Wolf used his many years of experience at Magna for the van manufacturer GAZ. According to the motto: what was good for Magna cannot be bad for GAZ.
“He implemented the interests of a Frank Stronach just as mercilessly as those of an Oleg Deripaska and sometimes left behind scorched earth,” claims a friend of Wolf’s. “Much enemy much ore. He lives according to the principle of taking no prisoners.” Which means nothing other than that he implements plans without compromise.
Accordingly, Wolf will be his Plans with GAZ in Nizhny Novgorod Russia continue to implement. “They don’t sit in the trees there anymore. The know-how is there, many components that used to come from Europe now come from third countries such as China,” says one of Wolf’s companions. The GAZelle pickup truck, the main model, can match the qualitative standards of a Ford Transit, but is said to cost only a third of that. This commercial vehicle is widely sold in Africa, South America, India and China.
Wolf is considered to understand Putin. In 2016, the Russian President awarded him the Order of Friendship. Meanwhile, Wolf is said to have asked former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to put in a good word for the oligarch Deripaska, who has been sanctioned since 2018 in the United States. At least that’s what the chats suggest. Today, Wolf attaches importance to the statement that he does not do business with people or companies that are affected by international sanctions.
A suspect for WKStA
In Austria, Wolf has a lot of trouble with the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) and finance. The reason for this are the chats with the former Finance Secretary General Thomas Schmid. Schmid is said to have intervened for Wolf. The WKStA suspects a prohibited deal between Wolf and a tax officer. This is said to have granted Wolf a tax reduction, and in return Wolf is said to have campaigned for Schmid to have the official go to another tax office. It is about the suspicion of bribery and corruption.
Wolf denies the allegations. He sees himself as a blackmail victim of finance. He has filed a disciplinary complaint against the tax office.