Until now, the largest minority shareholder of Uralsvyazinform was Lider. In the spring of 2009, it had 6.53% of ordinary shares and another 4% belonged to Gazprombank, which is affiliated with it, said the manager of the minority shareholder of Uralsvyazinform. A source in Lider says: Uralsvyazinform shares were not sold.

Investment bank KIT Finance reported that it had acquired 7.84% of ordinary shares of Uralsvyazinform, one of the seven interregional companies (IRCs) of the state holding Svyazinvest, increasing its stake to 8.03%. A representative of KIT Finance did not disclose the circumstances or price of this transaction, which took place on January 15. On that day, 7.84% of Uralsvyazinform cost 2.13 billion rubles ($72.3 million) on the MICEX.

KIT Finance sees high potential for growth in the value of Uralsvyazinform shares, explained Deputy General Director of the bank Konstantin Yakovlev. Analysts from seven of the eight investment banks surveyed by Interfax think differently: their average forecast price for an ordinary Uralsvyazinform share is 22% lower than its value on the MICEX on January 15 – $0.022.

The purchase could have been initiated by the state, which controls KIT Finance through Russian Railways, several minority shareholders of Uralsvyazinform suggest. The upcoming reorganization of the MRK – their merger with Rostelecom – will need to be approved by a majority of 75% of shareholders’ votes, and the state controls only 38% through Svyazinvest.

The largest investment of KIT Finance Bank in telecoms was the purchase of 40% of Rostelecom in 2006–2007: the bank spent about $2 billion on it. With these shares, KIT Finance made repo transactions, which almost led it to bankruptcy during the crisis. In the end, 40% of Rostelecom was bought out by Vnesheconombank and the Deposit Insurance Agency for 67.4 billion rubles.

"KIT Finance" invested in "Uralsvyazinform"