News Archive

After two successful Extraordinary General Meetings of Shareholders (EGMS) of Kyivstar on Tuesday, Kyivstar's Charter has been amended and a new Board elected. Accounts and budgets have been properly approved, as well as dividends for the company's fiscal years 2004 and 2005.

For the first time since 2005, a meeting of shareholders of Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar has been held. The meeting amended the company's charter and elected a new Board of Directors.

Telenor Russia held a special pre-Christmas celebration party on 3 December in the world famous Bolshoi Theatre - the place synonymous with the Russian culture and classical ballet.

The US Federal Court for the Southern District of New York on 3 December denied Alfa Group companies Altimo, Alpren, Hardlake and Storm's motion to amend the Court's 19 November Contempt Order.

The US Federal Court for the Southern District of New York on 19 November granted Telenor's motion requesting that Alfa Group companies Altimo, Alpren, Hardlake and Storm be held in contempt of court for their failure to obey a November 2, 2007 court order upholding Telenor's arbitration award against Alfa Group subsidiary Storm. The Court held all four companies in contempt, imposed escalating fines, and ordered Storm to sell its shares in Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar within 90 days, unless within that period, Alfa has divested its shareholdings in excess of 5 per cent of Turkcell and Ukrainian High Technologies.

The Eighth Arbitrazh Appellate Court in Omsk in Siberia has postponed until 12 December 2008 the hearing of Telenor's appeal of the USD 2.8 billion judgment issued against the Norwegian company last August in Khanty-Mansiysk.

Telenor has today received an open letter from Altimo and Altimo's international advisory board containing serious accusations against Telenor.

Telenor's international expansion and experience from emerging markets were in focus when Telenor President and CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas held his keynote address at the FT World Telecoms Conference in London on Monday this week.

"We are delivering a quarter with strong EBITDA margin and a solid operating cash flow despite reduced growth in revenues. During the quarter our mobile operations added 6 million subscriptions, reaching a total of 159 million. We maintain our outlook for 2008," said President and CEO of Telenor, Jon Fredrik Baksaas.

Telenor has entered into a definitive agreement to subscribe to new shares in Unitech Wireless for a consideration equivalent to USD 1,070 million. Subject to regulatory approvals, Telenor will hold a 60% controlling stake in Unitech Wireless.

Telenor on Monday learned, through a press release said to be issued by Farimex Products, of a decision in a Siberian appeals court in Omsk purporting to arrest Telenor and Altimo's shares in VimpelCom. "If this is true, it is an outrageous decision, which we intend to overturn using all available means," said Jan Edvard Thygesen, EVP and head of Telenor's operations in Central and Eastern Europe.

In May 2008 the official partnership agreement between Telenor and the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia was signed in Moscow.

(Fornebu, 23 July 2008) In the second quarter of 2008, Telenor's pro forma revenues (including Kyivstar) increased by three per cent compared to the second quarter of 2007, reaching NOK 27.2 billion. Underlying revenues increased by seven per cent in the same period. Pro forma EBITDA before other income and expenses was NOK 9.3 billion. Telenor's mobile operations added six million subscriptions during the second quarter.

The total number of subscriptions in Telenor's mobile operations has now passed 150 million. This was announced at Telenor's Capital Markets Day on Thursday.

On Wednesday April 16, 2008 Kjell Morten Johnsen, Head of Telenor Russia, was elected to the Executive Board of the Association of the European Businesses in the Russian Federation (AEB).

The world's first authorized in-flight mobile phone calls on a commercial flight has taken place, following the successful introduction of the AeroMobile system by Emirates Airline. AeroMobile is a joint venture between Telenor and ARINC, and is the result of a research and innovation project in Telenor.

The US District Court in New York yesterday issued an opinion in the action brought by Telenor in June 2007, alleging violations of the US securities laws by Altimo and four other Alfa Group affiliates in connection with their purchases of 9.5 per cent of VimpelCom shares between August 2006 and May 2007.

On March 21, 2008, Alfa Group subsidiary Eco Telecom commenced an arbitration proceeding against Telenor East Invest AS, claiming that Telenor violated the VimpelCom Shareholders Agreement by delaying VimpelCom's purchase of Closed Joint Stock Company "Ukrainian Radio Systems" (URS) by approximately one year, and that VimpelCom and Eco Telecom suffered harm as a result. Eco Telecom is claiming damages of US$1 billion. Telenor believes this proceeding has no merit, and will defend it vigorously.

On Wednesday this week, Kjell Morten Johnsen, Head of Telenor Russia, participated in two sessions designed to promote the dialogue between business representatives and the Russian government.