Hungary's Magyar Telekom: Mobile Arm CEO Sugar Resigns

BUDAPEST -(Dow Jones)- Andras Sugar, chief executive of Magyar Telekom Rt.'s (MTELEKOM.BU) market-leading mobile arm T-Mobile Magyarorszag Rt., has resigned, effective Tuesday, Magyar Telekom said Monday.

Magyar Telekom didn't provide a reason for Sugar's departure but local media reports had said Sugar was set to resign because of a plan to merge T-Mobile Hungary with Magyar Telekom in order to save costs.

A company statement quoted Sugar as saying: "I couldn't agree with the owners' vision for the future." He didn't specify on what specifically they disagreed.

Magyar Telekom said only that Sugar would depart under mutual agreement.

Sugar is leaving his position before his term expires in 2007.

Magyar President and Chief Executive Elek Straub is to take Sugar's position temporarily, Magyar Telekom said.

Hungarian daily newspaper Nepszabadsag Monday said Straub, head of the struggling fixed-line business, is planning to cut costs at the highly profitable mobile operations via the merger to the tune of 20 billion forints ($1=HUF193.81) over four years.

Under Sugar's leadership in the past decade, T-Mobile Hungary became a market leader, with more than 4 million subscribers at present.

Magyar fully owns T-Mobile. Magyar is majority-owned by Deutsche Telekom AG (DT).

-By Margit Feher, Dow Jones Newswires; +361-267-0622; margit.feher@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 5th September 2005