Potential Saab investor Vladimir Antonov’s former aide has launched a broadside at the Swedish government contrasting its apparent willingness to receive investment from a “dictatorship” in China to its perceived lack of interest in the Trollhattan automaker.
Antonov – whose bank was seized by the Lithuanian government – consistently struggled to see his bid to underwrite EUR30m (US$40m) in Saab be accepted by the European Investment Bank (EIB) despite being cleared by the Swedish National Debt Office (SNDO).
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But Antonov’s aide, Lars Carlstrom, has expressed bafflement at the Swedish government position regarding any investment by the Russian – and despite securing approval for the Russian from former Saab owners, General Motors.
“He [Antonov] was Russian with money and they suspected he was not good for Sweden,” Carlstrom told just-auto from Stockholm. “It is pure discrimination. The government said we will not give any guarantee if Antonov was involved.
“Do we know where this money for Volvo in China comes from? They gladly receive money from a dictatorship – it does not make sense. They thought Saab was a failure and [thought] they would lose more money.
“The SNDO approved him [Antonov] in April…but then the government said we will not approve him until GM approves him. They were not happy about the NDO announcing this news. They [GM] informed the Swedish government they had no problem with Vladimir Antonov. The Swedish government said all the time they were waiting for GM, but I know GM had communicated this to the government.”
The SNDO even went as far as hiring private investigators and legal teams to reassure itself of Antonov’s credentials, but outright hostility from the EIB appears to have eventually scuppered the Russian’s chances.
“The Swedish government said we would never do a [EIB] guarantee of Saab if Antonov is involved so GM had to play this game,” said Carlstrom. “The only way for GM to sell Saab – because the market was empty of cash at that time – was this loan from the EIB of EUR400m. Then the government said we will not give any guarantee if Antonov is involved.”
For its part, GM, currently beset with myriad European problems from its loss-making Opel/Vauxhall division, says it agreed a solution to allow Antonov to come on board.
“We negotiated with Saab to come up with a solution to allow Vladimir Antonov to come in as an investor, but they were not able to complete,” a GM spokesman told just-auto. “I don’t know why the deal did not work out.
“We reached an agreement and the ball was back in Saab’s court. Wenever voiced an opinion on him whatsoever.”
The SNDO told just-auto this morning (5 March) its report into Antonov had raised “no objections” to the Russian as an owner. “That in essence, was what the report said,” a spokeswoman for the debt office said.
No-one at Sweden’s Enterprise Ministry was immediately available for comment but last September, the Ministry said it had been in close contact with the company all along and guaranteed the loan that made it possible for Saab to survive in 2009.
“The government is very engaged and involved in the well-being of the Swedish automotive industry,” said a Ministry spokeswoman at the time. “We have been clear there are limits to what we can do – it is not for the Swedish government to buy Saab,” she said.
