RUSSIA’S VIMPELCOM CLOSES DEAL TO BUY 90% IN ARMENIA’S ARMENTEL

Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
November 16, 2006 Thursday 7:22 PM EET

Russia’s second largest mobile operator VimpelCom has completed a deal
to buy a 90% stake in Armenia’s incumbent telecom operator ArmenTel
for a total of 381.9 million euros, an official with VimpelCom told
Prime-Tass Thursday.

VimpelCom in early November agreed to buy the stake from Greece’s
Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA (OTE) for 341.9 million
euros plus assuming ArmenTel’s debt of about 40 million euros.

The Armenian government holds the remaining 10% stake in ArmenTel
and said earlier this month that it may sell the stake to VimpelCom.

ArmenTel is a fixed-line and mobile operator in Armenia with licenses
in the GSM 900 and CDMA standards. ArmenTel’s subscriber base
includes approximately 600,000 fixed-line subscribers and 400,000
GSM subscribers. Armenia’s population is about 3.2 million people.

VimpelCom operates in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan and plans to launch services in Georgia soon.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress