Ukraine's Prosecutor Generals Office has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to overturn last year's sale of a majority share in Ukraine's leading mobile phone company, Ukrainian Mobile Communications, to Russia's leading wireless operator.
ading wireless operator.
MTS acquired a controlling stake in UMC in 2002 and acquired the remaining shares in 2003.
MTS paid almost $400 million to purchase shares from three of UMC’s foreign shareholders and from Ukrtelecom, the state fixed-line telephone monopoly.
In two separate transactions, MTS paid Ukrtelecom about $170 million for 51 percent of UMC. MTS also bought shares from Deutsche Telekom, Dutch group KPN and from Denmark’s TDC.
Serhy Rudenko, a spokesperson for the PGO, told Interfax-Ukraine on June 9 that the sale of Ukrtelecom’s shares in UMC violated Ukrainian law, on the grounds that the sale had not been approved by parliament, and that the shares were sold below market value.
MTS rejected the allegations.
“MTS acquired UMC at the fair price and fully complied with the laws,” MTS spokesperson Andrey Braginski told the Post late on June 9. “We have fulfilled all the obligations of the deal. We see no legal grounds to revise our acquisition of UMC.”
UMC declined to comment.
