8 Feb 2018 14:36

Rostelecom not ruling out sale of its Armenia subsidiary

MOSCOW. Feb 8 (Interfax) - PJSC Rostelecom may sell its business in Armenia, GNC-Alfa, Rostelecom chief Mikhail Oseyevsky told journalists.

He said that "the inter-country synergy is not evident." "We are thinking about how best to organize our work there, perhaps, including through a sale," he said.

Armenia is the first CIS country in which Rostelecom started providing services to private customers. The Russian company acquired 75% minus 1 share in the Armenian operator for $22.5 million in February 2012.

Rostelecom had earlier said it might buy more assets in the CIS, but GNC-Alfa remains its sole foreign asset.

Oseyevsky said that the company is now thinking about the extent to which the Armenian business compliments Rostelecom's business. "After all laws are different, the client base, products are different" he said.

Oseyevsky said that Rostelecom does not need to immediately sell its Armenian business but that it is not ruling out such a deal.