MOSCOW, October 22 (RIA Novosti) - Sberbank's net profit in the first nine months of 2009 calculated to the Russian Accounting Standards declined 91% year-on-year to 9.1 billion rubles ($313 million), the bank said Thursday.

State-owned Sberbank is Russia's largest lender.

"Due to significant expenditure to create reserves, the bank's pre-tax profit declined compared to the first nine months of 2008 to 11.9 billion rubles [$410 million]," the bank said.

Provisions for the large volume of bad loans amid the ongoing economic crisis are likely to use up most of the bank's earnings for 2009.

Sberbank is currently involved in a deal to buy a stake in the car manufacturer Opel. General Motors took a long-awaited decision in early September to sell Opel to a consortium of auto parts maker Magna and Sberbank. The decision was approved by the Opel board and the German government.