German Econ Min hopeful on British aid for Opel
* Economy Minister Germany hopeful on British aid for Opel
* Germany agrees production shift to UK - Opel union boss
BERLIN, Oct 14 (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said on Wednesday that the government was hopeful Britain was close to giving a commitment on financial aid for carmaker Opel.
"We're still waiting for the respective commitments," Guttenberg told reporters in Berlin. "However, from what I hear, the situation in Britain on this has got a lot better."
Klaus Franz, head of Opel's works council, said German workers' representatives had helped clear the way for a deal in Britain on the European unit of General Motors by agreeing that some production should be moved there from Germany.
To push through a Berlin-brokered rescue for the carmaker, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has offered to stump up 4.5 billion euros ($6.71 billion) in Opel guarantees, saying it would see later how to split it between countries with plants.
These countries include Poland, Belgium, Britain and Spain, which are all to secure as many jobs as possible in the planned takeover by Canadian car-parts maker Magna (MGa.TO). Roughly half of Opel's 50,000 jobs are in Germany.
Franz said he was confident the contract to sell the firm to Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank (SBER03.MM) would be signed on Thursday.
"That is feasible," he told Reuters.
British trade union Unite said on Tuesday that it had struck a deal with Magna to secure the future GM Opel plants in Britain, which makes Vauxhall cars in the United Kingdom. [ID:nSHA108411]
Shortly after this, British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said Magna had put forward a much better deal for its proposed takeover of the UK plants but that there was no agreement yet on government financial support.
Magna and Sberbank (SBER03.MM) have vowed to inject 500 million euros into Opel, which they want to use to make an aggressive push into the Russian market. They plan to cut some 10,500 European jobs, of which about 4,000 are in Germany, but have committed to keeping all the German plants running. ($1=.6710 Euro) (Additional reporting by Alexander Huebner, writing Dave Graham; editing by Karen Foster)
