Tele2 Russia does not need $5 bln loan, this is limit for all deals - VTB
ST. PETERSBURG. June 20 (Interfax) - Tele2 Russia does not need a $5 billion loan and VTB shareholders' approval of transactions with the mobile operator within the scope of this amount is the maximum limit on interested-party transactions, the whole amount of which will not be used, the head of the state bank, Andrei Kostin said.
The agenda of the VTB shareholder meeting that was held in St. Petersburg on Thursday included interested-party transactions with dozens of counterparties affiliated with the bank through "common" directors, such as Rosneft , Transneft , Alrosa, Rusal and Tele2, which can be concluded in the period to the next shareholder meeting. Media attention was drawn to the deal with Tele2 with a limit of $5 billion.
"There's some misunderstanding here. We're not so much approving deals here as limits, the limit for the whole year. Within the scope of this limit, there could be a daily transaction, for example, for $1 million, or $365 million over the year," Kostin said in an interview with Rossiya 24.
"A loan this size [for $5 billion] is not currently needed by Tele2, even if it independently begins to develop its business in Moscow. This is an overall, global limit that is unlikely to be used in full. It will go toward various types of transactions [not only lending]. Credit facilities in such an amount will not be extended to the company," Kostin said.
A consortium of investors, including VTB, has a controlling interest in a joint venture to which Tele2 Russia and state operator Rostelecom contributed their mobile assets. Tele2 does not yet have a presence in Moscow, Russia's biggest mobile services market.
