German decision on Opel this week

BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel���s government aims to make a decision on a preferred bidder for General Motors Corp���s Opel unit in Germany by the middle of this week as GM prepares for a probable June 1 bankruptcy.

Merkel spoke by telephone with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on May 23 and met with Magna International Inc
Co-Chief Executive Officer Siegfried Wolf and Chairman Frank Stronach, according to Ulrich Wilhelm, chief government spokesman in Berlin. Merkel will meet Fiat SpA CEO Sergio Marchionne in the ���first half��� of the week, he said.

���You can expect the need for decisions to reach a kind of climax around mid-week,��� Merkel told reporters in Berlin.
Opel, based in Ruesselsheim near Frankfurt, has said it needs 3.3 billion euros ($4.6 billion) in state aid to survive. German Economy Minister Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg said in a May 23 interview that he wasn���t persuaded by offers from Italy���s Fiat, financial investor RHJ International SA or Aurora, Ontario-based car-parts maker Magna, which aims to join Russian partner OAO Sberbank in the deal.

���In the last few days, we���ve seen the offers by the different investors changing day by day, and also the statements by GM and the American government in terms of what they can envisage,��� Merkel said.

Wilhelm said that there is ���movement in the positions��� of potential investors in Opel. A Magna spokesman in Austria said talks with GM and the German government continue. If Opel files for insolvency, a German court would first appoint a preliminary administrator to take charge, typically for as many as three months.