Reuters reported October 6, citing a non-disclosure agreement between Altimo and Telenor, that the two parties are considering a share swap in mobile operators Kyivstar of Ukraine and Vimpelcom of Russia. Under the deal, Telenor would receive Altimo’s 43.5% stake in Kyivstar, raising its stake to 100%, and in return Altimo would get 12% of Vimplecom and 5% of Telenor from the Norwegian government. Yesterday Russian newspaper Vedomosti confirmed a preliminary agreement existed, but said the aforementioned scenario was only one possible option. Moreover, according to Vedomosti, the Norwegian government said it did not plan to reduce its stake in Telenor. Alexander Paraschiy: Indeed, the share swap scenario does not look to be in the interest of the government of Norway: its stake in Telenor would fall from a controlling 54% to about 49%. Nevertheless, the news that both Altimo and Telenor are seeking real ways to resolve their three-year conflict is positive. The rumored deal looks fair at current market prices: a 5% stake in Telenor and 12% stake in Vimplecom are currently priced at USD 2.6 bln, while 43.5% of Kyivstar calculated by Telenor’s EV/EBITDA multiple is USD 2.5 mln.