Spanish Indus Min: No Basis Yet To Provide Aid For Opel
10 October 2009 - 12:20AM
Dow Jones News
There is currently no basis yet for talks about Spain's
contribution of financial aid for Austrian-Canadian car-parts maker
Magna International Inc. (MGA) in its move to take over carmaker
Adam Opel GmbH because the industrial plan has priority and it
isn't yet viable, Spanish Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian said
Friday.
"The industrial dimension is prior to any discussion about
financial support," Sebastian told reporters.
He said, "we are not at this stage yet" to talk about European
governments' aid to a European Opel company.
He also said that Magna must provide a long-term goal for the
Spanish plant in Figueruelas, near Saragossa. He said Spain would
be willing for short-term sacrifices if the long-term goal is
convincing.
His comments come after Sebastian met with Magna's Co-Chief
Executive Siegfried Wolf in Berlin earlier Friday.
Some European countries in which Opel factories are located will
meet Friday in Berlin with German government officials to discuss
their potential aid contributions to Magna in its bid to take over
Opel, a unit of General Motors Co.
-By Andrea Thomas, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 30 2888 410;
andrea.thomas@dowjones.com