MOSCOW, December 10 (RIA Novosti) - The auto giant Daimler AG has turned to Germany's anti-trust body for approval of its deal to buy shares in KamAZ, Russia's largest truck-maker, the German regulator said on Wednesday.

The regulator said it had received an application from Daimler AG on December 5.

Reports that Daimler could purchase 42% of KamAZ shares appeared in the summer, with the deal then estimated at $2 billion. However, it was later reported, with reference to Sergei Chemezov, head of the state-controlled hi-tech corporation Rostekhnologii which holds a 34% stake in the truck maker, that Daimler AG may only purchase 10%.

In late November, Ruben Vardanyan, chairman of the board of directors of the Troika Dialog brokerage, which is a KamAZ shareholder, said that negotiations with Daimler AG had not yet been completed, adding that the truck-maker was a Russian strategic asset.

A controlling stake in KamAZ is currently held by the truck maker's general director, Sergei Kogogin, and Russian investors, including Troika Dialog, which is also acting as a financial adviser for the negotiations with Daimler.

KamAZ, based in the Volga Republic of Tatarstan, produces more than 30 models of trucks, as well as trailers, buses, tractors and spare parts. It also manufactures engines, and components.

The company has assembly facilities in Poland, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Vietnam and Ukraine.

KamAZ heavy-duty trucks have won the Paris-Dakar rally on several occasions.