A Moscow appellate court ruled Thursday that an agreement between Nordic telecom TeliaSonera and Russian firm Altimo to combine their holdings in Megafon and Türkiye's Turkcell is unlawful. The court cited a prohibition on foreign entities gaining control of strategically designated Russian companies.
The deal, reached in late 2009, had already been struck down by a Moscow arbitration court in July before being referred to a second court, which reached the same conclusion. Billionaire Alisher Usmanov, holding 39 percent of Megafon via TelecomInvest, had challenged the transaction in April on similar legal grounds.
Both TeliaSonera and Altimo, an arm of the Alfa banking group, said they plan to appeal the ruling.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in October 2010, in its own words.