Opel's Future

The Russian bank Sberbank, which will hold a 35 percent stake in the new Opel, could sell its holdings to the Russian carmaker GAZ or the Russian state bank VEB, Sberbank head German Gref said in an interview published Friday by Reuters.

"We're very interested in passing our share along to an industrial partner," Gref said. The Austrian-Canadian auto parts maker Magna will hold a further 20 percent in the new Opel.

Gref's comments will add fuel to a debate about the involvement of Russian partners in the sale of Opel. The German government has served as midwife for the new Opel, providing a 4.5 billion euro line of credit to fund the Magna and Sberbank takeover.

Last week, Gref said he hoped the deal would lead to the transfer of technology to Russian auto firms, which are hopelessly outdated. Opel will begin producing Astra model cars in Russia under an agreement with GAZ.

"The point of our participation in the deal is for the import of technology. If this doesn't happen, then we wasted our time," Gref was quoted by news agency RIA Novosti.

Russian car maker Avtovaz announced Thursday that it plans to lay off 27,600 workers because of plunging sales of its outdated Lada model. The company also announced losses of $1.2 billion (800 million euros).

Opel's workers in Western Europe are concerned that their jobs may be moving eastward. On Wednesday, thousands of workers from across Europe converged on the Opel factory in Antwerp, Belgium to protest the plant's planned closure, as well as plans to cut up to 11,000 jobs in Germany, Belgium, Spain and Britain.

The governments of Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom, all nations with Opel factories, are appealing the terms of the Opel deal to the European Commission, arguing that Berlin in effect bribed Magna with government loans in order to prevent the closure of any Opel facilities in Germany.

bn/Reuters/AP/AFP

Editor: Rick Demarest