BERLIN (AFP)--E.U. Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen wants
a thorough examination of plans to rescue troubled German automaker
Opel, which he believes would ultimately benefit Russia, a German
daily reported.
"The European Commission cannot allow such a plan to pass
automatically, it must examine it from top to bottom," said the
German commissioner in an article to appear in Monday's edition of
Die Welt.
He said the plan must "truly offer assurances that the business
will survive and will be competitive for a length of time."
Opel was bailed out late last month by a EUR1.5 billion ($2.1
billion) loan from Berlin as well as a promised initial investment
of EUR700 million from Canadian auto parts maker Magna, which won
the bidding war to take over the struggling firm.
Magna and General Motors (GM), Opel's parent company which has
been bailed out by the U.S. government, have haggled over
finalizing their preliminary agreement.
Under the proposed deal, GM would keep 35% of the company and
Opel's workers would retain 10%. Magna would hold 20%, and Russia's
state bank OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS), which has joined forces in the
deal with troubled Russian car maker OAO GAZ Group (GAZA.RS), would
have 35%.
"So far no investor in the world has come forward to continue
the activities of GM Europe without public aid, that (shows) the
risk for the business is very high," Verheugen said.
"The only ones who incur a relatively low risk by participating
in General Motors Europe are the Russians," he added. "They are
going to gain access to more modern technologies and can then build
up their own automobile industry, suitable for exports."
Verheugen admitted that in the end "the key decisions about the
business could not be taken without the approval of the governments
in Moscow and Washington."