This file photo of May 24, 2007 shows (from left to right) MegaFon GD Sergey Soldatenkov, MTS President Leonid Melamed (second left), VimpelCom GD Alexander Izosimov and and Russian IT and Communications Minister Leonid Reiman.
Photo: Gennadiy Gulyaev
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Trio of Cellular Giants to Be Deemed Strategic
Russia’s cellular giants, MTS, VimpelCom and MegaFon, will be deemed dominant and added to the list of strategic enterprises, Vedomosti reported.
On March 21, the RF State Duma passed in the second reading the bill on the access of nonresidents to strategic enterprises and amendments to some acts of Russia. Clause 21 of the Communications Act, for instance, was enlarged by an item, whereby any communication operator with the market share in Russia of above 25 percent will be deemed dominant. But pursuant to clause 6 of the bill on nonresidents access, the dominant companies are deemed the strategic ones.
MTS, VimpelCom and MegaFon will be regarded dominant, should the State Duma pass in the third reading the respective amendment to the Communications Act, people in Antimonopoly Service confirmed.
Once the bill becomes a law, a private foreign investor will have to apply to the authorized body for the permit to buy out over 50 percent in the operator. The stake narrows to more than 25 percent if such investor is under control of some foreign state. The commission headed by Russia’s prime minister has half a year to sanction or deny the deal.
Controlled by Norwegian government, Telenor currently holds 29.9 percent in VimpelCom. TeliaSonera of Sweden and Finland has 35.6 percent in MegaFon. The stocks of MTS, VimpelCom and MegaFon are traded on stock exchanges.
The latest edition of the bill on nonresidents’ access enumerates 42 strategic industries, including metallurgy, fishery, geological prospecting, exploration and mining operations in the areas of federal significance.
www.kommersant.com
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