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The privatization of Svyazinvest promised by German Gref, in the opinion of well-informed observers, is causing more and more passions. In the media, competitors have begun a subtle game for a fall. Didn't stay away...

The privatization of Svyazinvest promised by German Gref, in the opinion of well-informed observers, is causing more and more passions. In the media, competitors have begun a subtle game for a fall. The State Duma did not stand aside either, having noted several controversial requests to various state authorities. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, for reasons that are not very clear at first glance, is pushing back and pushing back the promised privatization. As a result, instead of a big privatization day, we got Groundhog Day. Without any connection.

It is known that there are three main contenders for the state-owned stake in Svyazinvest. Firstly, it is the Moscow-based AFK Sistema, which controls MGTS. Secondly, the St. Petersburg "Telecominvest". And, finally, thirdly, fighting with Telecominvest for a blocking stake in Alfa Group, a mobile operator Megafon. The list, as you can see, is short. Therefore, it is quite possible to apply the old deductive method of Sherlock Holmes to the events taking place around the promised privatization in order to understand: who benefits from this?

The state is definitely not profitable. Because the liberalization of the market leads to the fact that the share of Svyazinvest in this market is steadily declining, and the share price is correspondingly declining. Moreover, experts argue that it will only continue to decline, since laws have been adopted at the state level aimed at destroying this monopoly.

AFK "Sistema" and "Telecominvest" is also hardly profitable. For the simple reason that they were going to fight for the stake in Svyazinvest by joining forces. Consequently, in this case they have more chances than a competitor. Alfa remains, which, according to the same experts, would benefit not only from delaying the decision on privatization, but also to quarrel between the leaders of Sistema and Telecominvest.

Informed sources from the State Duma believe that the request about the legality of the privatization of MGTS by Sistema, made by deputy Alexander Ageev at the end of December and replicated by the media, was intended not only to cause a scandal and cast a shadow on the department of the recently resigned Vladimir Yevtushenkov. The fact is that all the information about this request was submitted in such a way that no one had any doubts that Telecominvest was behind Ageev. Meanwhile, Ageev himself constantly refers to his other colleague, Leonid Mayevsky, who made a similar request back in 2000. Then, by the way, the legality of the privatization of MGTS was checked. And the inspectors did not find any crime. So, Mayevsky, which is by no means a secret for any of the deputies, is a long-standing and active lobbyist for Alfa Group.

Experts are alarmed by some other circumstances. For example, the fact that Ageev's request unexpectedly coincided with the forcible seizure of a GSM operator in Kyrgyzstan. The same operator that was bought by AFK Sistema, but which is disputed by Beeline, owned by Alfa. There is another strange coincidence. The deputy's request arose precisely in those days when Sistema was negotiating with the German Deutsche Bank on the sale of a large stake in its company. It is clear that the scandal could simply disrupt this deal.

In the corridors of the Duma, however, they believe that it will not be possible to quarrel between AFK and Telecominvest. If only because they are completely natural allies in the communications market. However, the decision to privatize Svyazinvest has been dragged out so far. And every day in this market field, the same picture remains for the time being: the same as yesterday. In other words, Groundhog Day. But such a holiday and such ways of fighting for property are unlikely to add credibility to domestic business.