By Maria Antonova / The Moscow Times
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with Berthold Huber, president of Germany’s IG Metall labor union, in Moscow on Tuesday in an attempt to drum up support for a Sberbank-backed bid to acquire carmaker Opel.
Sberbank joined Canadian car parts maker Magna and GAZ, the carmaker controlled by Oleg Deripaska, to bid for the German unit of General Motors, and the consortium won the backing of the German government in late May.
The bid was hailed as a coup for Russia’s struggling carmakers, which hope that an influx of know-how from Opel could revive the sector. But it has also faced criticism from some German business leaders and politicians, as well as competition from rival bidders.
Huber — whose influential union represents Germany’s metal workers, including in the auto sector — thanked Putin for the invitation and stressed the “important role played by social organizations, including unions. We believe that they must be supported,” according to a translation of his comments on the government web site.
The transcript of their opening remarks did not refer to the Opel bid.
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