Tesla eyeing Russian production 'at some point,' Musk says

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the EV maker is close to establishing a presence in Russia and is looking at whether it could open factories there.

Addressing an event in Russia via video link, Musk said the company already had production sites in China and the U.S. but was looking at opening production facilities in other parts of the world. The company also plans to open a plant in Germany later this year to build cars and batteries.

"I think we are close to establishing a Tesla presence in Russia, and I think that would be great," Musk said. "Over time, we will look to have factories in other parts of the world, potentially Russia at some point."

Musk, who is also the CEO of U.S. government contractor Space Exploration Technologies, called for more dialogue between Washington and Moscow, where the event took place Friday. The conference was part of the Kremlin's efforts to revive the Knowledge Society, a Soviet-era educational organization.

"There's a lot of talent and energy in Russia," Musk said. "Hopefully that energy continues into the future, and I would just like to strongly encourage people to strive to make the future better than the past and to be optimistic about the future."

Musk, 49, joined the conference three months after inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to join him on the chat-room app Clubhouse. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesman, told reporters he still hopes Putin and Musk will talk, but no preparations for that are underway currently, the news agency Tass said.

The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade invited Musk to Russia.

"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. Come to see us, we'll talk about it :)," it said on social media in English.

Russian small private carmaker Zetta is designing an electric car and plans to launch production this year.

The auto industry in Russia, a global oil and gas exporter, has no successful EV projects at present and analysts see slim prospects in the near future, primarily due to poor charging infrastructure.

Reuters contributed to this report