MOSCOW, May 19 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian authorities should help resolve the dispute between the Alfa Group, VimpelCom and Norway's Telenor, which holds 29.9% in VimpelCom, the Russian prime minister said on Tuesday.
"Our task is to ensure work to resolve this dispute in a legal framework," Vladimir Putin said.
Putin said the Russian government had no stakes in VimpelCom, Alfa or Telenor and therefore could be completely neutral and independent in the dispute, adding that the Russian authorities wanted foreign investors to feel comfortable doing business in Russia.
Norway's Telenor and Russia's Alfa Group, the two main shareholders in Russia's second-largest mobile operator VimpelCom, have been embroiled in a long-running and bitter dispute over Vimpelcom's move into the Ukrainian market, with several lawsuits filed by each party in the past few years.
Following the latest lawsuit filed by Farimex, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands and holds 0.002% of VimpelCom's stock, Russia's 8th Arbitration Appeals Court in late February ordered Telenor to pay $1.728 billion to VimpelCom.
The lawsuit claimed the Norwegian telecoms operator had delayed a deal to purchase Ukrainian cell phone operator Ukrainian Radio Systems.
In 2004-2005, Telenor resisted VimpelCom's attempt to enter the Ukrainian market and buy into cell phone operator Ukrainian Radio Systems, as it put VimpelCom in direct competition with the Norwegian company's other interests in Ukraine.
A total of 26.6% of Telenor's stake in VimpelCom has been frozen as part of February's court ruling on the Farimex lawsuit.
Telenor said, however, it would appeal the enforcement of the court ruling.
