Major Russian deals win approval

By Chris Dziadul
February 4, 2010 09.49 UK

A government commission on foreign investment chaired by the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has approved two deals that could have an important bearing on the country’s TV industry.

The Moscow Times reports that the commission has given the go-ahead to the merger of Alfa Group’s and Telenor’s telecom assets in Russia and Ukraine, paving the way for $4.5 billion (€3.2 billion) in investment over the next four years. However, the deal will still have to be approved by both the Ukrainian anti-monopoly authorities and minority shareholders.

The commission has also given the go-ahead to the merger of two channels (sports-based 7TV and 75% of the music channel Muz-TV) owned by Alisher Usmanov and regional media outlets held by Ivan Tavrin into a single UTV Russia Holdings company.

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