The leading Russian mobile operator MTS is to bid for a stake in the incumbent Ukrainian telco Ukrtelecom. According to a local press report, the Sistema-backed company’s acting chief executive Andrei Dobovksy has said it has already made the initial preparations for such a move. He has also cited a number of other companies, including Telenor, Turkcell and MTS’s mobile rival VimpelCom, as potential competitors. The sale of a 67.7% stake in Ukrtelecom could realise the Ukrainian state as much as $7 billion (€4.72 billion).
