Russian demand

The head of Russian lender Sberbank said on Friday that Russian automakers Avtovaz and GAZ were interested in joining the new Opel venture for the technology.

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

He was speaking at an economic forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi meant to garner greater foreign investment in Russia.

The state-owned Sberbank has teamed up with Canadian auto parts maker Magna to purchase a joint majority 55-percent stake in Opel, while General Motors will retain 35 percent.

Gref's comments echo sentiments expressed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who said that his country needed more foreign technology than foreign investors.

"We have a need not only for money – though this is of course very important – but first of all for the knowledge and experience of the main world players," Putin in a speech on the first day of the economic forum.

When General Motors sold its German subsidiary Opel to Magna, it insisted on restrictions to the transfer of technology.

Putin commends Opel purchase

However, the Russian leader praised the Opel purchase as an "encouraging example" that he hopes will set a precedent for further fruitful partnerships with foreign companies.

Opel chairman Hans Demant said in an interview with a Polish daily this week that under the deal, Opel would produce its Astra model cars in Russia.

GAZ, Russia's second-largest car manufacturer, is poised to turn over its sprawling assembly line and distribution network to produce Opel cars for the Russian market.

The deal comes at a time when Russia's car market, hailed as the world's fastest growing before the economic crisis, has shrunk by almost half this year.

The downturn has dealt a blow to Russian carmakers already struggling to compete with the flood of foreign imports.

Talks over job losses

Meanwhile, talks between European unions and delegates from General Motors and Magna are set to begin next week over plans to cut 10,500 jobs at Opel to save labour costs to the tune of hundreds of millions of euros.

"In the coming week, works councils and trade unions will begin the negotiations over the future of the European sites and our jobs," a flyer distributed to Opel workers in Germany said.

Each country that is home to an Opel plant is expected to send workers' representatives to Ruesselsheim to meet with negotiating partners from GM and Magna.

Trade union leaders at Opel's eight western European plants are worried about how much volume they each might have to relinquish to benefit another site.

However, the biggest job losses are expected to be in the Bochum factory in Germany – which could lose production of the Astra compact and transmission production – as well as the unit in Antwerp. Opel's Belgian plant is in danger of being closed entirely.

Rb/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Andreas Illmer