Russia's participation in the Opel deal may be a waste of time if Western technologies are not transferred to the country, German Gref, cheif executive of deal participant Sberbank (SBER03.MM) said on Saturday.

Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, and Magna (MGa.TO) recently agreed to buy a majority stake in German car maker Opel from General Motors [GM.UL].

If the import of technologies does not take place, it will mean that (the deal) was just a waste of time, Gref told reporters on the sidelines of an economic forum on the Black Sea resort town of Sochi.

Gref also said Sberbank may buy back its shares from the market in order to carry out its stock options programme for management, but no decision has been taken yet. (Reporting by Dmitry Sergeyev; Writing by Toni Vorobyova)

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