Auction for govt stake in MTS Belarus to go ahead - property committee
MINSK. Nov 16 (Interfax) - The auction offering the government stake (51%) in Belarusian-Russian joint company LLC MTS will go ahead as planned on December 1, Belarusian State Property Committee Chairman Georgy Kuznetsov said.
"The auction will go ahead," Kuznetsov told Interfax, refusing to comment on auction bids, the deadline for which expired at 4:00 p.m., Minsk time, on November 15.
More detailed information on the auction and its bids will be provided later, the committee press service said. "There will be some information in a few days," Elena Kostyukova, the committee press secretary, said.
OJSC MTS the Russian co-founder of the joint company did not want to take part in the auction but was satisfied with the progress of preparations for it.
"We are satisfied that all our rights as the government's junior partner as well as strategic partner in this company have been observed," OJSC MTS spokesperson Valeria Kouzmenko told Interfax.
"MTS continues to carry out all the obligations it has undertaken with regard the management and development of the company in Belarus," she said.
The Belarusian State Property Committee on September 7 announced an auction for the sale of the government stake in MTS Belarus to take place on December 1 with a starting price of $1 billion.
The Russian operator, which owns 49% of the joint company, was seen earlier by Belarus as the most likely candidate to buy the government stake.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said earlier that he was ready to sell the government stake to Russia's MTS for $1 billion. MTS suggested that the Belarusian authorities buy its stake for the corresponding price.
MTS management confirmed it was interested in the deal but proposed an independent market valuation of the Belarusian asset.
The property committee and Beltelecom, which manages the government stake in the joint company MTS JVLL, gave a presentation on the auction on October 12.
The MTS representative that attended the presentation indicated to the press that he was just there to learn about the auction. The event was also attended by Latvian telecoms company Brokers and Iranian company Mobin Co. The Mobin representative said he was interested in buying the MTS JVLL stake. Belarus invited over 50 companies.
MTS JVLL has been providing GSM 900/1800 services in Belarus since 2002 and UMTS services since 2010. The joint venture was founded by the Beltelecom state enterprise (51%) and MTS (49%).
The company currently has 4.752 million subscribers in Belarus. MTS has invested $725 million in the JV since inception. It offers coverage to 97.8% of Belarusian territory that is home to 99.7% of the population. Its network infrastructure, the most developed on the Belarusian market, includes 4,200 base stations. The company processes over 18 million outgoing calls a day in almost 22,000 cities and towns in Belarus.
The bulk of investment currently goes to develop the 3G network and introduce new technology solutions and platforms, particularly mobile Internet access. MTS tested an LTE network in Belarus this spring.
MTS JVLL is one of Belarus' 20 biggest taxpayers. The company has paid in $638.15 million in taxes during its nine years of operation.