Russian govt concerned over GM decision not to sell Opel

I / Moscow November 5, 2009, 12:07 IST

The Russian government is concerned over General Motors' decision not to sell a stake in Opel to the Magna-Sberbank consortium, an aide to the Russian PM said.

Dmitry Peskov said that with reference to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's reaction to the decision taken by the US motor giant's Board of Directors on Tuesday.

"GM has earlier passed its European division into management of a trust, which practically approved the deal, and further decisions were within the competence of this trust. In this respect, the Tuesday decision taken by the GM Board of Directors causes concerns," he said yesterday.

"According to the available reports, the consortium intends to hold consultations and a detailed legal analysis of the current situation," Peskov said. "The Russian government does not participate in this work," Putin's aide added.