Opel Sale May Deepen Russian Ties to Germany, Trump East Europe
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By Leon Mangasarian
May 30 (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Angela+Merkel&site=wnews&client=wnews&;
proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields
=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Angela Merkel’s blessing of a Russian-backed bid
for <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=GM%3AUS> General Motors
Corp.’s Opel unit augurs deeper ties between Moscow and Berlin that may
trump concerns of ex-Soviet nations squeezed between the two capitals.
Merkel’s government earlier today picked a partnership led by Magna
International Inc., a Canadian auto-parts supplier, with Russia’s biggest
bank, <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=SBER%3ARU> OAO Sberbank,
and Russian carmaker <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=GAZA%3ARU>
OAO GAZ as the buyer for Opel, the European division of GM, which will file
for bankruptcy next week.
“This will fuel suspicion in east Europe over Germany and Russia and why the
biggest economy in Europe has tied up with strange Russian tycoons to please
the Kremlin,” said
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Fredrik%0AErixon&site=wnews&client=wne
ws&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfie
lds=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Fredrik Erixon, director of the Brussels-based
<http://www.ecipe.org/> European Centre for International Political Economy.
“Germany is playing off the Poles and the Baltic states against Russia.”
Germany is Russia’s biggest <http://www.ost-ausschuss.de/presse.html> trade
partner, a relationship underpinned by rising German gas and oil imports.
Annual German trade with Russia increased five-fold to 68.2 billion euros
($96.2 billion) last year since 2000. With 6,000 German companies operating
in Russia, business leaders in Berlin view the global recession as a
speed-bump, with manufacturers set to win contracts as Russia diversifies
from energy and rebuilds transport and health care.
“Economic ties between Germany and Russia are very important,” Merkel said
at a joint news conference with Russian President
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Dmitry+Medvedev&site=wnews&client=wnew
s&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfiel
ds=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Dmitry Medvedev in Berlin on March 31. “There’s a
lot of potential here.”
Under Magna’s initial proposal, the Canadian company would get a 20 percent
stake in GM’s Opel and Vauxhall divisions in Europe. Sberbank would own 35
percent, matching the remaining holding of Detroit-based GM. Magna Co-Chief
Executive Officer
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Siegfried+Wolf&site=wnews&client=wnews
&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfield
s=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Siegfried Wolf has described GAZ, based in Nizhny
Novgorod, Russia, as its industrial partner.
Merkel-Putin Talks
Underscoring the political and commercial mix, Merkel spoke by phone to
Russian Prime Minister
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Vladimir+Putin&site=wnews&client=wnews
&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfield
s=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Vladimir Putin on May 26 about “trade and economic
cooperation.” That followed a May 23 conversation dedicated to Opel, said
her spokesman,
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Ulrich%0AWilhelm&site=wnews&client=wne
ws&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfie
lds=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Ulrich Wilhelm.
Merkel’s predecessor,
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Gerhard+Schroeder&site=wnews&client=wn
ews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfi
elds=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Gerhard Schroeder, was hired by Russian state
gas export monopoly Gazprom OAO months after leaving office in 2005 to head
the construction of the <http://www.nord-stream.com/en/> Nord Stream
pipeline that will provide Russian gas to Germany.
The Polish government fears that Nord Stream -- which will run from Russia
directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea -- might allow Russia to cut gas
supplies to east Europe while still supplying Germany and western Europe.
“Nothing’s ever purely economic with the Russians, there’s always political
interest involved,”
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Karol+Karski&site=wnews&client=wnews&p
roxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=
wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Karol Karski, of Poland’s opposition Law & Justice
party and a member of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said in an
interview.
Weight of History
German relations with eastern Europe are still burdened by the memory of
Nazi crimes from World War II, while Russia’s relations with the region are
blighted by the post-1945 communist takeover by the Soviet Union.
“These countries are allergic to many things coming from Russia or Germany,”
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Jan+Techau&site=wnews&client=wnews&pro
xystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wn
nis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Jan Techau, a European and security expert at the
Berlin-based <http://www.dgap.org/> German Council on Foreign Relations,
said in an interview. “Balancing Germany’s ties with Russia and eastern
Europe is one of the most difficult German foreign policy questions.”
Techau said Opel is part of a bigger picture given that Russia views Germany
as a key to its global economic policy.
“Russia wants to move massively into Western markets,” he said. “Opel would
be a real catch because they’d get a big technological advantage for their
auto industry and a foot into one of the world’s biggest economies.”
Russian Market
The move makes sense for Opel because Russia is set to become Europe’s
largest car market, said
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Ferdinand+Dudenhoeffer&site=wnews&clie
nt=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&
getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the
<http://www.uni-due.de/car/> Center for Automotive Research at the
University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany.
Russia is almost as crucial for German exports as China, and Merkel -- who
grew up in communist East Germany -- has sometimes adopted policies linked
to Russia that are opposed by eastern Europeans. These range from
<http://www.nord-stream.com/en/> Nord Stream to her rejection of
fast-tracking former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia for NATO
membership.
For Germany, closer ties to Russia may also mark a bid to ensure a pivotal
diplomatic role as the world’s center of gravity shifts away from Europe and
President
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Barack+Obama&site=wnews&client=wnews&p
roxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=
wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Barack Obama focuses on the Middle East and Asia,
says Techau.
“U.S.-Russian relations play out at a different level including security,
the soft underbelly of Russia in Central Asia and North Korea,” he said.
“These are areas where Europe is a small player and it’s the Europeans who
should be concerned that the new Obama policy will squeeze them out of their
old mediator role between Moscow and Washington.”
To contact the reporter on this story:
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Leon+Mangasarian&site=wnews&client=wne
ws&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfie
lds=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Leon Mangasarian in Berlin at
<mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
Last Updated: May 30, 2009 03:15 EDT
