"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 was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"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," he added.
The Russian Prime Minister yesterday said that the fight for Opel is far from coming to a halt as the Opel trust is the one that must make a decision on the matter.
"It is well known that GM has earlier transferred the management of its European division to a trust, which has cleared the deal, and all further steps should be de facto decided by the trust," spokesman Dmitry Peskov quoted Putin as saying according to a report by Reuters.
"Therefore the GM board decision is surprising. The Russian government had been ready to share risks including financial risks to reduce pressure on the German government and encourage the deal because the consortium planned to invest in the Russian car industry."
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