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Telenor sells stake in Russian regional operator to VimpelCom

Press release
Fornebu
3 minute read
Press Release
Telenor has sold its 49% share in Russian regional mobile operator, Extel, to Telenor Mobile's associated company, VimpelCom. The remaining 51% of the shares in Kaliningrad based Extel have also been sold to VimpelCom.
The transaction will give Telenor a financial gain of approximately NOK45 million after tax and a return after tax of an estimated 25%.

"The sale of our stake in Extel is in line with Telenor's strategy to concentrate on increased ownership control in fewer international mobile operations and dispose of minority stakes in other associated mobile companies," said Telenor Mobile's CEO, Arve Johansen.

Extel is the dominating player in the Kaliningrad region where the company had a 65% market share representing a subscriber base of approximately 105,000 at the beginning of December this year. VimpelCom, in which Telenor holds a 29% economic stake, had approximately 4.5 million subscribers at the end of November 2002. The VimpelCom Group's license portfolio covers approximately 79% of Russia's population (115 million people), including the City of Moscow, the Moscow Region and the City of St. Petersburg.

"Since Telenor holds a substantial stake in VimpelCom, we are particularly pleased to sell our stake in Extel to VimpelCom as the acquisition of another regional operator will further strengthen VimpelCom's national expansion," Johansen said.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2002, VimpelCom reported net operating revenues of USD221.1 million, a 93.8% increase from the USD114.1 million reported for the same period in 2001; EBITDA of USD102.6 million, a 150.5% increase from the USD40.9 million reported for the same period in 2001; and net income of USD40.5 million, an increase of 191.0% from the USD13.9 million reported for the third quarter of 2001. The Company's EBITDA margin for the third quarter of 2002 was approximately 46.4% compared to approximately 35.9% for the same period of 2001.

For further information, please contact:

Dag Vangsnes, Executive Vice President Communications, Telenor Mobile. Phone: (+47) 917 89 427