Yesterday we wrote about the potential political influence in Germany that could be obtained through a majority stake in the struggling GM car company Opel (never mind that the last thing the Russian economy needs right now is more automotive manufacturing capacity).  Today Reuters has a Q+A on the topic with some background information.

WHY OPEL?

Putin tacitly promotes Russian investment in foreign countries as a way to boost the country’s influence abroad. He has repeatedly named Germany alongside Italy as Russia’s most important trading partners in Europe.

Flush with the world’s third largest foreign currency reserves, the Russian state may be willing to overlook the challenges posed to Sberbank by a shrinking economy, as well as GAZ’s debts and lack of success in passenger cars.

“GAZ has made this mistake before and doesn’t want to make it again. Now the government is making it for them,” VTB Capital automotive analyst Yelena Sakhnova said.