STOCKHOLM, April 24 (Reuters) - Saab said on Saturday it was uncertain when it would be able to restart production after the European Investment Bank (EIB) set tough conditions on a deal aimed at giving the Swedish car maker a cash lifeline.
Saab, where output has been stopped for more than two weeks after it failed to pay suppliers' bills due to a cash crunch, had been hoping the EIB would go along with a deal for a liquidity injection after the Swedish state backed the agreement last week.
"We have agreement from the EIB, but with tough conditions," said Saab spokesman Eric Geers. He said the answer from the EIB made it "a little uncertain" when output could start up.
Saab has run into a cash crunch in its first year of ownership by Dutch niche carmaker Spyker after its 2010 sales fell short of forecasts.
It has halted production after suppliers went unpaid but Sweden has approved a financing deal which still needs approval from the EIB. [ID:nLDE73K0PM]
Under the deal, Russian financier Vladimir Antonov is to buy Saab's plant and other real estate and lease it back to the car maker. Antonov also eventually wants to become a shareholder in Saab.
Saab needs approval for the agreement from the Swedish state and the EIB as the EIB lent 400 million euros to the car maker, which Sweden guaranteed.
Saab has drawn 217 million euros of the loan, which under the new financing scheme will now be capped at 280 million euros.
Lars Carlstrom, a representative for Antonov in Sweden, also expressed worries about the EIB's answer, which he said amounted to totally new terms for the deal.
"This will cause problems with time that they (Saab) don't have," he told Reuters. "Saab hopes for communication with the EIB early on Tuesday."
Antonov himself expressed frustration on his Twitter feed.
"This is bullshit! sorry for my french:))," the comment said.
Both Geers and Carlstrom declined to say in what way the EIB terms were tough.
But a source familiar with the negotiations said one of the terms was that the EIB wanted Saab to repay the money it had borrowed within 90 days of the sale and leaseback deal being carried out.
EIB vice president Eva Srejber, speaking with Swedish news agency TT, also gave no details of the terms of the bank's answer, though she said former Saab owner General Motors, which still has preference shares, also had still to give its permission for the sale and leaseback deal.
But Carlstrom said GM has already given its approval.
Spyker rescued Saab from closure when it bought the Swedish firm from GM in early 2010. However, sales fell short in 2010, leaving it short of cash early this year. It currently plans to sell 80,000 cars in 2011 and 120,000 next year.
Antonov, a former shareholder in Spyker, was blocked the original deal after Swedish media reports of links to organised crime, which he has denied and from which he says he has cleared his name. He has also said GM is ready to let him back as a shareholder in Saab.
The EIB, Sweden and GM are expected to take a separate decision on Antonov's aim to take a stake of just under 30 percent in Saab, with the sale and leaseback deal supposed to take place first. (Reporting by Patrick Lannin in Stockholm; Editing by Robert Birsel) (Created by Robert Birsel)