OREANDA-NEWS. May 25, 2009. Sberbank could gain a 35% stake in Opel and GAZ Group could place on its site production facilities of the German auto maker, which expects to win 20% of the Russian car market. Canadian Magna which intends to team up with Russian companies to buy Opel, came out Friday with a plan for the potential transaction. Magna, which heads the consortium of the Canadian and Russian buyers, will still have to compete with Italian Fiat, which has also placed a bid for Opel.

However, the local authorities in Opel’s home region already voiced their preferences. “I think there is a certain rating (of bids) in which Magna’s offer matches the best aspirations and desires of many German politicians and (hopes) of workers”, Roland Koch, the prime minister of German’s state of Hesse where Opel’s main production site is located, said on the air of German radio . Magna reported Friday that as a result of the potential transaction Sberbank could gain a 35% stake in the loss-making German auto maker.