IPOC Drops Court Claim for Stake in Russia's MegaFon

MOSCOW, Mar 2 (Prime-Tass) -- Bermuda Islands-registered IPOC International Growth Fund has dropped its court claim for a 25.1% stake in Russia's third largest mobile operator MegaFon, a spokeswoman with the fund said, Kommersant business daily reported Friday.

"IPOC has no arbitration proceedings in Russian courts at the moment," the spokeswoman said.

IPOC has recalled its claim from the Arbitration Court for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District, which was scheduled to hear it Thursday, the daily reported.

IPOC said in a press release Thursday that it would continue to pursue the claim, but that the dispute for the blocking stake in MegaFon was under the jurisdiction of the Prosecutor General's Office, not arbitration courts, the daily reported.

In 2004, Russian prosecutors initiated a criminal case against Leonid Rozhetskin, a former director of LV Finance, the daily reported. Rozhetskin sold CT-Mobile, the owner of the blocking stake in MegaFon, to Russian holding Alfa Group in 2003, which prompted IPOC to initiate a number of court cases in Russia and abroad. IPOC claimed that it had a preemptive right to purchase the stake.

MegaFon's shareholders are Telecominvest (31.3%), Sonera Holding B.V. (26%), CT-Mobile (25.1%), IPOC International Growth Fund Limited (8.0 %), Telia International AB (6.37%), Telia International Management AB (1.73%), and Comtact-C (1.5%), according to MegaFon's Web site.

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Posted to the site on 2nd March 2007