Telenor Shows VimpelCom the Route to World Markets
Telenor intends to promote VimpelCom outside of CIS, Kjell Morten Johnsen, chief of Russia’s office of Telenor, said Monday, adding that South Asia could be one of the markets. VimpelCom’s biggest holder, Altimo, responded to this effort of Norwegians with clear understanding.
Holder of 26.6 percent in VimpelCom, Telenor is willing to make a world leader out of it, Johnsen made clear yesterday during New Economy, Knowledge and Technology conference held in Moscow. Pakistan could be one of the countries of interest to VimpelCom, according to Johnsen.
Telenor bought a license to render cellular services in Pakistan in the spring of 2004, having paid $291 million for it.
Unexpectedly, another big holder in VimpelCom, Russia’s Altimo (32.9 percent) easily accepted the idea. “We have always hailed VimpelCom’s development and its entry into new promising markets. We will be very glad if all holders agree that the company’s advance is the task of priority for any holder,” commented Altimo Vice President Kirill Babayev.
The market viewed this positive commentary of Altimo as some milestone. Altimo and Telenor have been in conflict since late 2004 exactly because of the world expansion of VimpelCom. Telenor, for instance, opposes VimpelCom’s progress in Ukraine, as it owns the majority stake in Ukrainian Kievstar. As to Altimo, it insists on aggressive activities there. The debates are so heated that the parties are trying to sort things out in different courts.
But the conflict could become less acute once the companies cooperate on the markets where VimpelCom will be no rival to Telenor. This cooperation, the analysts say, may even postpone the asset swap and division of telecom venture of Alfa Group’s subsidiary and Telenor.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 10, 2006
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