MOSCOW, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The decision of U.S. automaker General Motors to scrap plans for selling its European Opel unit will not affect the Russian auto industry, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

    "GM's decision not to carry out the deal and to drop plans to sell Opel to the Magna-Sberbank consortium will clearly not damage our interests," Putin said.

    Putin said Russia would continue to cooperate with foreign car makers despite GM's decision, news agencies reported.

    Meanwhile, Industry Minister Viktor Khristenko said that there was no tragedy in the decision, and Russia's strategy for its auto industry will be presented in mid-November while taking into GM's decision into consideration.

    GM's board of directors decided on Tuesday to retain the German Opel unit instead of selling it to Canada's Magna International Inc. and its Russian partner, Sberbank.

    On Wednesday Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Putin, said the Russian government had been surprised by the decision, and the Magna-Sberbank consortium intended to "hold consultations with General Motors and thoroughly analyze the situation in legal terms."

    However, "the Russian government will not be involved in this work," Peskov said.

    GM's decision ended a protracted negotiation that started earlier this year. Under the terms of the deal agreed with Magna and Sberbank, they would each get a 27.5-percent stake in the Ruesselsheim-based Opel.