By Olga Razumovskaya
MOSCOW--Russia's antitrust agency will ask the Moscow
Arbitration Court to postpone a hearing on a lawsuit it filed
seeking to stop Nordic telecommunications operator Telenor ASA
(TEL.OS) from raising its stake in VimpelCom Ltd. (VIP) by one
month, the head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, Igor Artemyev,
said Wednesday, Interfax reported.
"I think that there's no need to go to court on (Oct.) 17th. We
should calmly postpone (the hearing) for a month," he told
reporters, Prime news agency reported.
"We must surely be able to reach a resolution," he told
reporters outside the courtroom.
Telenor was to acquire shares in Russia's VimpelCom from
Egypt-based Weather Investments II under an agreement between the
telecom companies in February 2012.
But Russia's antitrust agency filed suit, alleging the deal
violated the country's strategic investment law limiting foreign
investment in Russian companies that the government deems
strategically important.
In April, Moscow's main commercial court barred Telenor East
Holding, an affiliate that holds the disputed stake in VimpelCom,
and Weather Investment from exercising the option agreement until
the legal dispute is settled.
The injunction also prohibits the two companies from proceeding
with management changes at VimpelCom.
Write to Olga Razumovskaya olga.razumovskaya@dowjones.com
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