The shareholders' meeting was attended by the owners of 79.83% of VimpelCom shares, of which only representatives of Telenor, which owns 26.6% of the shares, and the owners of 1.3% of the shares opposed the purchase of Ukrainian Radio Systems (Wellcom trademark) for $206 .5 million. 51.2% of shareholders voted for the deal.

VimpelCom valued Wellcom's equipment and network at approximately $100 million. The company will pay another $107 million for licenses owned by the Ukrainian operator.

Norwegian Telenor has been trying for more than a year to resist Alfa Group (owns 32.9% of VimpelCom shares), which is lobbying in every way for the purchase of the Ukrainian company.

Telenor owns a controlling stake in Kyivstar, so there is no point in growing its competitors in Ukraine. The Norwegians blocked this deal three times on the boards of directors of VimpelCom.

This was not enough, and they tried to excommunicate Alpha from participating in the shareholders' meeting.

VimpelCom shareholders are meeting for the second time to consider the acquisition of Wellcom - on August 15, they failed to reach a quorum, so the meeting was canceled. The meeting was actually disrupted by representatives of Alpha, who did not appear. They explained their decision by the fact that “for technical reasons” many minority shareholders could not attend - then the owners of only 12.8% of VimpelCom’s securities registered. At the end of August, Telenor filed a lawsuit against its partner in a New York court demanding that Alfa be prohibited from participating in the next meeting due to the fact that it was misleading VimpelCom shareholders regarding the Ukrainian deal. But the court refused to satisfy this claim.

Nevertheless, Telenor representatives do not despair and continue to resist the acquisition of Wellcom. Before the start of the shareholders' meeting, the Norwegians sent a letter stating that approval of the transaction requires support of at least 80% (that is, a qualified majority, as on the board of directors). If this opinion is not taken into account, Telenor threatens to challenge the results of the meeting in court.

Representatives of Alpha, on the contrary, are already celebrating their victory. According to them, the charter of VimpelCom says in black and white that such decisions of the shareholders’ meeting should not be specifically confirmed by the board of directors. All that is required is a formal procedure – an application from the company’s management.

True, Joe Lunder , a member of the board of directors of VimpelCom, in a conversation with a Gazeta.Ru correspondent, noted that the charter does not provide clear guidance regarding such cases, so shareholders can only prove their case in court.

“This is great news for VimpelCom, which finally gives it the opportunity to enter the Ukrainian market,” rejoices Alexey Reznikovich , executive director of Alfa Telecom (manages the telecommunications assets of Alfa Group). – We have always said that the purchase of Ukrainian Radio Systems is an excellent opportunity to increase the value of VimpelCom shares.

“The very fact of moving litigation from the United States to Russia is a tactical victory for Alpha,” says Valery Tutykhin , a lawyer at John Tyner and Partners.

“In addition, despite the legal roughness, the Russian financial group also won a strategic victory, pushing through the decision through the meeting of shareholders. Telenor will have to go to court for at least 6-9 months, and during this time the shareholders’ decision will be implemented.”

According to VimpelCom Chairman of the Board of Directors David Haines, the final decision on the Ukrainian transaction will be made at an extraordinary meeting of directors on Friday, September 16.

VimpelCom broke into Kyiv