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MOSCOW (AFP)--The rescue of German carmaker Opel by Canada's Magna International Inc. (MGA) and Russian state-owned bank OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS) must help the Russian car industry, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday, quoted by Interfax news agency.

"The Russian government has its strategy of developing the car industry and the deal we are discussing must be embedded within the strategy for automobile manufacturing," Putin said at a meeting with officials from Sberbank and Magna.