Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Friday they are close to having an official presence in Russia, which could one day even include a factory.
Musk made the comments when responding to a question posed by a student during an online event in Russia called “New Knowledge”.
“I think we’re close to establishing Tesla presence in Russia and that would be great. And more broadly, also in Kazakhstan and neighbouring regions. It’s important for us to support Tesla supporters like yourself,” Musk said.
“Over time we’ll look to have factories in other parts of the world, potentially Russia at some point,” he added.
Soon after the comments were made, Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade took to social media to say the government would be willing to provide support for such a project.
“Dear @Elonmusk, we were delighted to learn that you are considering building a factory in Russia. By the way, we have a number of state support measures for local OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). Come to see us, we’ll talk about it :),” it said on social media (via Reuters).
We might be hearing more about Elon Musk and Russia soon. Earlier this year Musk invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to a friendly chat on the social media app Clubhouse. Drive Tesla has learned the pair have agreed to a chat moderated by Russian-born AI researcher and past Musk interviewer Lex Friedman, but they have not yet settled on a date.
You can watch Musk’s comments in the video below.
