Germany's finance minister says a high-level meeting in Berlin has approved a plan for Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc to move ahead with a rescue of General Motor Corp's Opel unit. Peer Steinbrueck says the agreement was reached early on Saturday. The agreement will see Opel put under the care of a trustee later on Saturday. The two companies were earlier presenting their plan to senior German officials and representatives of the US Treasury to win their support and ensure the release of 1.5 billion euros in financing that Opel desperately needs to survive over the coming months. 'We are seeing progress,' the official said, requesting anonymity. Sources at GM and Magna also said the talks were going well. An agreement between GM and Magna is a first step toward securing the future of Ruesselsheim-based Opel, which has been under GM's control for the past 80 years and traces its roots in Germany back to the 19th century.
The German government has been scrambling to safeguard Opel's future before GM files for bankruptcy, a step which is expected to come by Monday. A first round of talks collapsed amid mutual recriminations on Thursday morning, prompting Berlin to set a new round of negotiations for Friday. Italian carmaker Fiat, Magna's main rival in the battle for Opel, pulled out of talks, leaving the door open for Magna, a company that was started by Austrian emigre Frank Stronach in a Toronto garage nearly half a century ago. Magna plans to use Opel to push into Russia, Europe's fastest-growing car market before the economic crisis hit. The company, which has 70,000 employees in 25 countries, supplies components and systems to many of the world's leading carmakers, including fuel tanks and radiator grilles for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and fuel filters for the BMW