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Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin - Source: Reuters -
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that General Motors' U-turn over the sale of Opel showed the generally "scornful" approach of US companies when dealing with their European partners.
General Motors opted on Tuesday to keep its European arm Opel after months of painstaking negotiations to sell it to a Canadian-Russian consortium of Magna and Sberbank.
Putin said Russia would learn lessons from the situation, but added that his government was still willing to support GM's projects in Russia.
"The last-minute refusal to complete the Opel deal is not harmful to our interests, but it shows that our American partners have a very original culture when dealing with counterparties," Putin said told a cabinet meeting.
"We will have to take into account this style of dealing with partners in the future, though this scornful approach toward partners mainly affects the Europeans, not us."
"GM did not warn anyone, did not speak to anyone... despite all the agreements reached and documents signed. Well, I think it is a good lesson," said Putin.
Putin on Wednesday said he thought the battle for Opel was not over yet, saying it was the trust overseeing Opel, not GM's board, that should decide any further steps.
