A new ownership structure has been proposed for the leading Russian telco Svyazinvest. Supported by the IT and communications minister Leonid Reiman, it is reported to be transferring some of the shares of the company into the long-distance operator Rostelecom. In practice, this would result in the government’s stake in the telco being reduced to 54% and Sistema’s to 18%. Svyazinvest is currently 75% minus one share owned by the government, with Sistema’s subsidiary Comstar UTS holding the remaining 25% plus one share. The latter was acquired in a deal worth $1.3 billion (€976.9 million) in Q4 2006.
