The Swedish government offered Saab conditional backing for a deal to free up cash for the company (see previous story here), whose production lines have been stopped for two weeks as Saab didn't pay suppliers. "We have decided to allow the Debt Office to conclude an agreement with Saab," said enterprise minister Maud Olofsson during a news conference on Friday.
The government has approved a proposal from the Debt Office to allow Saab to sell real estate, including the production plant, to Russian financier Vladimir Antonov and then lease it back from him. The minister said this deal would bring �30 million to Saab in the first phase, although the real estate was worth much more than that.
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