MOSCOW, June 3 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow court rejected on Wednesday an appeal from Norway's Telenor to suspend an order to pay $1.728 billion to Russia's second largest mobile phone operator VimpelCom, in which it holds 29.9%.
Telenor had asked the Moscow Arbitration Appeals Court to wait for a decision from the Federal Arbitration Appeals Court in the West Siberian District, which is due to consider the damages award on June 10.
Telenor and Russia's Alfa Group, the two main shareholders in VimpelCom, have been embroiled in a long-running dispute over the operator's move into the Ukrainian market, with several lawsuits filed by each party in the past few years.
In line with a February resolution by Russia's 8th Arbitration Appeals Court, Telenor should have paid $1.728 billion to VimpelCom by early April. A total of 26.6% of Telenor's stake in VimpelCom has been frozen.
The resolution followed a lawsuit that claimed the Norwegian telecoms operator had delayed a deal to purchase Ukrainian cell phone operator Ukrainian Radio Systems.
Telenor said on Wednesday it would soon appeal against the Moscow court's ruling.
