* Medvedev's official visit scheduled for Thursday
* Statement comes as rival bids for Opel gain steam
MOSCOW, July 15 (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will call for a final deal to have Sberbank and Magna acquire control of Germany's Opel while visiting Germany this week, a top Kremlin aide said on Wednesday.
"In Munich we will speak out in favour of this deal," Sergei Prikhodko, Medvedev's chief foreign policy aide told reporters. "It's a good deal. We hope others will support it as well."
Medvedev will visit Munich for a regular round of inter-governmental consultations on Thursday.
Canadian auto parts group Magna, in partnership with Russia's No. 1 lender Sberbank, reached a deal last month to acquire a combined stake of 55 percent from General Motors before the U.S. automotive giant went bankrupt.
Other contenders for Opel have emerged, however, as negotiations to finalise the initial acquisition hit snags.
Belgium-based RHJ International plans to offer around 300 million euros for a stake of just over 50 percent in Opel, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. China's Beijing Automotive (BAIC) is also vying for control of the German automotive firm. (Reporting by Oleg Shchedrov, writing by Simon Shuster; editing by Elaine Hardcastle)