Russian citizen heading Vimpelcom is condition for settling dispute with Telenor - FAS chief
MOSCOW. July 31 (Interfax) - One of the conditions for settling a suit brought by Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) against Norway's Telenor over the matter of the purchase of Vimpelcom Ltd. stock is the appointment of a Russian citizen to the post of OJSC VimpelCom general director, FAS chief Igor Artemyev said at a Tuesday press conference.
"The company Vimpelcom is a strategic company and, correspondingly, there are issues of Russian Federation state secrets involved with it. Considering that the ratio of company shareholders [Vimpelcom Ltd. owns 100% of OJSC VimpelCom] has changed and the board of directors could change, and theoretically the possibility arises that a foreign citizen would head the company, which is ruled out by Russian Federation law on state secrets. So, for example, first is that the FSB and we have stated in relation to strategic companies, where there is access to state secrets, that the general director must always be a Russian citizen," Artemyev said.
"We have requested of the company Telenor that it consider this possibility, and they supported it, saying that they respect the law and share the corresponding viewpoint," he said.
There were only two cases in the history of OJSC VimpelCom when a foreign citizen was at the helm. At the very beginning of its existence, from 2000 to 2005, Dutch citizen Jo Lunder (who now heads the parent company) was president and later general director. In 2009-2010, the company was led by a duo - general director and Russian citizen Alexander Torbakhov, and CEO and Croat Boris Nemsic.
At the moment, OJSC VimpelCom's chief is Russian citizen Anton Kudryashov.
Artemyev did not mention the rest of the conditions for settling the dispute, besides that the chief be a Russian citizen, citing confidentiality.
"The conditions will be finalized and formulated within two weeks," he said, adding that the authorities still need to work on them. "Several authorities are working through these conditions so that, if possible, we might come to an amicable agreement in court by October," Artemyev said. The next court hearing on the FAS' lawsuit against Telenor is scheduled for October 17.
Telenor has not yet commented on Artemyev's statement before official notification from the regulator.
On Monday, the Russian government commission for foreign investments in strategic industries put together conditions for Telenor to settle the dispute with the FAS. The purpose of these suggestions is to facilitate an out-of-court resolution of the conflict over a February deal for the Norwegian company to buy a stake in Vimpelcom from Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris.
