STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Talks to end the cash crunch at automaker Saab have been unsuccessful so far, the Swedish Debt Office said on Friday.
The automaker is struggling to find funds to meet unpaid supplier bills and resume output.
A Swedish business daily reported that Dutch owner Spyker was trying to release some of the collateral pledged against state-guaranteed loans to raise funds to meet the unpaid bills.
Marja Lang, spokeswoman for the Swedish Debt Office which guranteed the 400 million euro ($576.1 million) EIB loans for Saab, said a solution to the problem was near, but that in the end it did not work out on Friday.
She declined to say what the solution had been.
"It is clear what the problem is and everyone possible is trying to solve the problem," she said.
The daily, Dagens Industri, did not disclose its sources. Saab and Spyker were not available for comment.
In the meantime, output at the Saab plant in the southwestern town of Trollhattan remained suspended for a fourth day on Friday after Saab sent workers home due to a lack of supplies. A suppliers group has said companies are owed tens of millions of crowns for parts.
Spyker, which bought loss-making Saab from General Motors last year, has said the company is not facing collapse but a short-term liquidity crunch.
Over the long-term, Saab is hoping for an investment from Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov, a move over which Swedish authorities have the final say.
At GM's insistence, Antonov had to bow out of the original deal for Spyker to buy Saab in early 2010 after media reports, which he has denied, surfaced that linked him to organized crime.
He said he had cleared his name and that GM, which has preference shares in Saab, had agreed to his return to the deal.
Antonov has already applied to Sweden's Debt Office for permission to own a stake in Spyker and says he has 50 million euros ($71.5 million) to invest.
