TeliaSonera Exec Says Asset Swap with Alfa Not Justified

MOSCOW, Feb 27 (Prime-Tass) -- A possible swap of telecommunications assets between Russian industrial and financial holding Alfa Group and Finnish-Swedish telecommunications operator TeliaSonera is not justified at this time, TeliaSonera's Chairman Tom von Weymarn told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported Tuesday.

Von Weymarn attributed his company's reluctance to the fact that Alfa Group's stake in Turkish leading mobile operator Turkcell is small, while Alfa Group's ownership of a blocking stake in Russia?s third largest mobile operator MegaFon is still being challenged in court, Vedomosti reported.

Earlier in February several sources said that Altimo, the telecommunications arm of Alfa Group, had been in talks for several months with TeliaSonera on a possible swap of assets.

Alfa Group and TeliaSonera both have stakes in MegaFon and Turkcell. Alfa Group has a 25.1% stake in MegaFon and a 13.2% stake in Turkcell, while TeliaSonera controls directly and indirectly a 43.7% stake in MegaFon and 37.04% in Turkcell.

Among Alfa Group's other telecommunications assets are a 35.8% stake in Russia?s second largest mobile operator VimpelCom, 29% in U.S.-registered telecommunications operator Golden Telecom, 43.5% in Ukraine's largest mobile operator Kyivstar and a 100% stake in Kyrgyz mobile operator Sky Mobile.

Altimo is seeking to get a stake of around 20% in a global telecommunications operator through an asset swap, Altimo's General Director Alexei Reznikovich said in 2006.

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Posted to the site on 27th February 2007