SISTEMA CEO GONCHARUK SAYS IN TALKS TO BUY ARMENIA’S K-TELECOM – REPORT

AFX Europe (Focus)
Published: Aug 21, 2007

MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) – Sistema chief executive Alexander
Goncharuk told the Vedomosti newspaper that his company is in talks
to acquire the Fattouch Investment Group’s Karabakh Telecom CJSC
(K-Telecom), Armenia’s largest mobile telecommunications company.

He said Sistema is currently carrying out due diligence on the company,
but he did not say how much it might pay for K-Telecom.

Analysts told the newspaper that K-Telecom is worth as much as 600
mln usd.

Separately, sources close to Sistema’s majority shareholder Vladimir
Evtushenkov said that the conglomerate had already acquired K-Telecom
via its Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (MTS) subsidiary.

K-Telecom declined to comment on the matter when contacted by the
newspaper yesterday.

Earlier this summer the company’s general manager Ralf Yirikian said
that the company was not for sale, Vedomosti added.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress