MOSCOW, November 4 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian government said Wednesday GM's decision not to sell Germany's Opel to the Magna-Sberbank consortium was "surprising."
General Motors decided late Tuesday to retain its big European subsidiary, citing "an improving business environment" in Europe.
"GM placed its European division in control of a trust, which has effectively approved the deal. It is up to the trust to take any further steps. In this connection, GM's decision to reverse the deal is causing surprise," Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying by his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday expressed disappointment with the decision, describing it as "a defeat."
Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said the government would now seek to recover the 1.5 billion-euro bridge loan the government gave Opel last year to keep it afloat until Canadian auto parts maker Magna and Sberbank could take a 55% stake.
On September 10, General Motors announced that it would sell Opel to a consortium of Canada's auto parts maker Magna and Russia's largest bank, Sberbank. The decision was approved by the Opel board and the German government.
According to the previous plans, the Magna-Sberbank consortium was to have a 55% stake in Opel on a parity basis, and the German carmaker was to control 10% with GM retaining 35%.
