One of the thirty-three Lada Vesta cars, already handed over, according to some reports, to the State Duma for its fleet, was involved in an accident and was very badly damaged. And now the people's representatives and parliamentary staff are very worried - this was reported by "Caution Media" with reference to a source in the lower house of parliament. There is no official confirmation of the accident yet.
The insider claims that the Lada Vesta after the accident was "squeezed into an accordion" and it turned out that "the safety of a domestically produced car is not guaranteed". The car allegedly collided with a GAZelle after being rear-ended. "The headlights flew out, the front fenders swelled, the impact was in the rear right light, the whole front is broken" - the source said, concluding that, in fact, the State Duma's car fleet got "unsafe cars".
The source did not inform about the extent of the injuries to the driver and passengers of the Lada Vesta, where and when the accident happened. But there is no official refutation of the fact of the accident yet either.
The transfer of State Duma deputies, ministers, and employees of various ministries and departments from foreign cars to domestic ones began in the summer of 2023. This is done in order to develop the Russian automotive industry and to gain independence from foreign unfriendly countries and automakers.
In order to stimulate the transition to Russian and friendly Chinese cars, the lower house of the Russian parliament from January 1, 2024 will stop compensating deputies for gasoline expenses if they drive foreign cars. At the request of the leadership of the regions of the Russian Federation, deputies must switch to cars manufactured by AvtoVAZ, UAZ, Aurus, Evolute, Moskvich, or Chinese Haval.
It is known that at the end of December 2023, the speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, already switched to the premium Aurus. Later, information appeared in the media that an Aurus car was also assigned to the speaker of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin. According to insiders, his 11 deputies, as well as the leaders of the Duma factions, will also drive cars of the same brand.
Employees of the Ministry of Finance of Russia will also switch to domestic Lada Aura cars. The first five cars will arrive at the department in early 2024 - this was announced by Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. In the cabin of the Lada Aura - if you look at the review - you can see a lot from the Lada Vesta, but the color scheme is lighter and more elegant. There are also minor additions that add comfort to the car.
The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia is also replacing its car fleet. They purchased seventy Lada Vesta cars at a price of 1.4 million rubles per unit. This is confirmed by materials posted on the public procurement website.