By Olga Razumovskaya
MOSCOW--Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, in a letter to
VimpelCom Ltd. (VIP) dated Sept. 19 and obtained by Dow Jones
Newswires, urged the company not to go against the injunction posed
by the Moscow arbitration court.
The FAS called on the company to abstain from transferring the
rights on shares of VimpelCom Ltd., which are subject to the option
agreement between Telenor East Holding II AS (TEL.OS) and Weather
Investments II S.a.r.l., as well as making changes to the
shareholders' registry prior to the dispute's resolution.
The ongoing shareholder strife resulted in an injunction issued
by the Moscow arbitration court prohibiting the payment of almost
19 billion rubles ($595 million) worth of dividends from subsidiary
VimpelCom JSC to the parent company.
The conflict between Telenor and Altimo arose earlier this year
when Telenor tried to become the largest shareholder in the holding
company of Russia's third-largest mobile phone company, VimpelCom,
by buying out part of a minority partner's stake. The sale boosted
Telenor's stake in the company from 25% to 36%.
The deal left Altimo, a subsidiary of Russian conglomerate Alfa
Group (ALFAGP.YY), in second place with a 25% stake. A yet-to-be
completed option deal would boost Telenor's share to 43%.
The FAS had said the deal is illegal as Russian law stipulates
that foreign and Russian shareholders can only own the company on a
parity basis.
Telenor and VimpelCom Ltd. couldn't be immediately reached for
comment. Altimo didn't comment on the letter.
Write to Olga Razumovskaya olga.razumovskaya@dowjones.com
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