Armenian regulator could revoke permission to sell MTS Armenia to Cypriot investor
YEREVAN. Jan 15 (Interfax) - The Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia (PSRC) intends to review its decision to approve the application of CJSC MTS Armenia, a Viva-MTS brand and a subsidiary operator of Russia's PJSC MTS , to complete the transaction to sell 100% of the company's shares, the PSRC press service said in a statement.
The PSRC press service said that a decision, whose draft has been posted on the PSRC website, could be taken at a meeting on January 17.
The draft decision notes that Armenia's High-Tech Industry Ministry, which had not previously objected to the transaction, came out against it on December 27, 2023, "based on government interests".
"Approval of the transaction could be denied if the information presented in the documents is untrue, or the transaction threatens or could threaten national security or government interests. Consequently, the PSRC decides to deny to provide its consent to conclude the transaction," according to the draft decision.
As noted, the decision comes into force the next day after MTS Armenia has been notified about it. The decision comes into force within 30 days, and it could be appealed to an administrative court of Armenia.
As reported, the PSRC at a meeting on November 15, 2023, approved the application of CJSC MTS Armenia to complete the transaction to sell the company's shares.
The regulator's decision noted that the agency agrees to conclude the transaction to sell 100% of the shares of MTS Armenia to Cyprus' Fedilco Group Limited. The transaction should have been completed within six months from the date that the final decision was published.
Fedilco Group Limited plans to purchase 100% of the shares of MTS Armenia from Aramayo Investments Limited (Cyprus) as part of the transaction. MTS Armenia will no longer be considered a member of the MTS group once the transaction has been concluded.
The PSRC also noted that the High-Tech Industry Ministry and the National Security Service of Armenia at that time did not provide any objections to the conclusion of the transaction.
Meantime, the regulator in the spring of 2023 had already considered a similar application from MTS Armenia, but denied it at the time. The commission did not provide a reason for the denial, noting only that the transaction could be denied if it did not meet the requirements of the PSRC, or threatens or could threaten national security or government interests.
MTS' press service told Interfax at the time that the company was focusing on business development in Russia and could potentially "consider selling the asset in Armenia if there are buyers with a good valuation."