Not happy with telecom conflict
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hopes the on-going conflict between Norwegian Telenor and Russian VimpelCom will be solved without harm for both parties.
As BarentsObserver reported yesterday the Telenor – Vimpelcom case was an issue Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre would bring up in his bilateral talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
After the meeting, RosBusinessConsulting quoted Lavrov saying that the Russian Government and specifically the Russian Foreign Ministry would have a difficulty influencing the settlement process, as this concerns a private company. - We are not happy with what’s taking place, Lavrov added.
Yesterday a Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman said to Reuters: - From what we can tell, this issue is indeed damaging the image of Russia as a recipient of foreign investment.
Earlier today, just some few hours before the dispute between Telenor and VimpelCom was discussed bewteen Lavrov and Støre, a court in the Siberian city of Omsk rejected Telenor’s appeal to suspend a 1,7 billion ruling, reported by BarentsObserver.
The Russian arrest of Telenor’s 29,9 percent of the VimpelCom company triggered harsh reactions from a wide specter of foreign investors in Russia.
