Vimpelcom and Turkcell to Merge Ukrainian Networks?

Vimpelcom CEO Alexander Izosimov said in an interview that Vimpelcom’s Ukrainian subsidiary URS could merge its network with rival operator Astelit, controlled by Turkcell. He said the combination of the two small operators’ networks would save operation costs. Russia’s Alfa Group is the largest shareholder in Vimpelcom and a major shareholder in Turkcell and Both URS and Astelit have common shareholders – Russian Alfa Group. Alexander Paraschiy: Vimpelcom’s purchase of URS and recent launch of its Beeline brand in Ukraine were driven by Alfa and were largely aimed at pressuring Telenor to agree to a merger of Kyivstar and Vimpelcom. Now that has failed, Alfa and Vimpelcom appear to be looking for a way to reduce the high costs of expanding URS’s network nationwide. Alfa recently strengthened its position at Turkcell (which is now jointly controlled by Alfa and the Turkish Cukurova group), so an alliance might be possible, but not easy given the other powerful shareholders in VimpelCom, Turkcell and Astelit