MegaFon approves 3 bln rubles for partnership building business center at Skolkovo
MOSCOW. Oct 22 (Interfax) - The board of directors of MegaFon has approved membership contributions to the Development, Innovation, Technology Noncommercial Partnership (RIT), one of the projects of which is the construction of a business center at the Skolkovo Innovation Center outside Moscow.
The Russian mobile operator will contribute up to 2.905 billion rubles to the partnership, which is affiliated with MegaFon principal shareholder Alisher Usmanov and CEO Ivan Tavrin, by the middle of 2014.
MegaFon said the deal was not opposed by its second largest shareholder, Scandinavian telecom company TeliaSonera, which owns 25.17% of the operator. All seven board directors voted in favour of the deal.
Divisions of the UTV media group, which is owned by Tavrin and Usmanov, are among the founders of RIT, which was registered in the spring of 2012, according to the SPARK-Interfax database. Business daily Vedomosti has reported that Tavrin and Usmanov are considering selling UTV, but for now they still own the holding company.
MegaFon joined RIT in 2012, the company said in its annual report. MegaFon contributed 1.05 billion rubles to RIT last year, and as of December 31, 2012 had promised to invest another 766 million rubles in the partnership.
"The partnership has pledged to assume expenses for education, research and other social expenditures, as well as support certain social infrastructure at the Skolkovo Innovation Center," MegaFon said in its report.
RIT is building a 27,510-square-meter business center in the central part of the technology park, Skolkovo materials show. The multipurpose development, called Business Center at Skolkovo, will include a 700-seat auditorium, exhibition space, offices, a fitness center, restaurant, apartments, viewing platform and underground parking. The center, which will be owned by RIT, is scheduled to open in 2014.
"MegaFon's involvement in this project does not imply earning a profit - this is an exclusively voluntary contribution to support one of the country's leading innovation centers. Consequently, we do not expect any return on investment," MegaFon's press service told Interfax.
