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Russia's largest state-owned bank OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS) will sell its stake in General Motors Corp.'s (GMGMQ) German unit Adam Opel GmbH, potentially to a Russian strategic investor, Sberbank's Chief Executive German Gref said Thursday.

Gref said that Sberbank is not planning on becoming a strategic investor in Opel. He added that the deal - which the bank is conducting together with Austrian-Canadian car parts maker Magna International Inc. (MGA) should be fully completed by the autumn.

"After we finish structuring the first part of the deal, we will think about who could be a strategic partner," Gref told journalists on the eve of Russia's signature economic event of the year, the St. Petersburg Forum, which lures each year top political dignitaries, chief executives from some of the largest Western companies and about 2,000 investors.

Gref said that both Sberbank and Magna will commit some EUR500 million to Opel, which will be divided proportionally to their stakes.

"Proportionally, we have 35%, they have 20%," Gref said. The former economic minister also said that the Opel deal includes Russian rights to Chevrolet, the best selling foreign brand in the country.

The chief goal behind the Opel deal is "to help restructure Russian assets," which are affected by the General Motors' bankruptcy, Gref said. He also added that it is difficult to say how many jobs will be lost due to the overall restructuring of Opel. He said that job losses should "not be large" in Germany, but may affect more people in other countries where Opel has factories.

"All depends on the market situation," Gref said. He added that Magna will draw up the strategy for Opel's restructuring.

Company Web sites: www.sberbank.ru; www.gm.com

Forum Web site: www.forumspb.com

-By Lidia Kelly, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 985 998 4279; lidia.kelly@dowjones.com