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Russia opposes planned telecom mergers
15 January 2010
The Russian government is opposing mergers that affect VimpelCom and MegaFon plus stakes in Ukrainian and Turkish operators
Read more:
Russia
VimpelCom
MegaFon
Kyivstar
Turkcell
Telenor
TeliaSonera
Comment: The Russian telecoms market is complex, sometimes bafflingly so, with a maze of inter-relationships with one another, with large investors, and with government shareholdings too. Scandinavian operators Telenor and TeliaSonera are also shareholders in some of these ventures, and were hoping for a simplified structure that would allow future investment in emerging markets.
The Russian Communications Ministry has acted against proposed mergers of two of the country’s three large telecoms operators with others in Turkey and Ukraine. Privately-owned VimpelCom and MegaFon are planning to acquire stakes in Ukraine’s Kyivstar and Turkey’s Turkcell, respectively.
The government has made the move due to limitations on foreign ownership in the telecommunications sector. The potential deals require an approval of the government committee on foreign investments, chaired by prime minister Vladimir Putin.
Separately, Russian telecoms holding company, Svyazinvest, is seeking control of MegaFon. The group is in talks with billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who owns a 31.1% stake in the mobile operator.
AF Telecom Holding, which manages Usmanov’s holdings in MegaFon, has offered to exchange its stake in the company for a stake in the merged operator created by Svyazinvest. GTB
Further reading on GTB
Interview with Mikhail Shamolin of MTS
Interview with Alexander Izosimov of VimpelCom
Telenor and Altimo set plans for VimpelCom
TeliaSonera and Alfa merge stakes