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September 29, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 24
bne:TMT
Russian tea importer is only bidder for Kyrgyzstan mobile operator
Yelena Nagornaya, a Russian citizen, has submitted the sole appli- cation to buy Kyrgyzstan's 100%-state-owned mobile operator Alfa Telecom, operating under the Megacom brand, Tazabek reported on September 27.
Nagornaya submitted the application as a private entity, agreeing to pay KGS13.5bn ($198mn) for the 100% stake in the operator along with a commission fee amounting to 7% of the acquisition sum. The State Property Fund has started negotiations with Nagornaya, who has no connections to the telecommunications sector.
The company has been offered at auction five times in recent years, but no-one has previously shown interest in acquiring it. The price put on the operator at the first auction in May 2016 stood at over $300mn, but over time it fell by over $100mn. This time, however, the authorities have offered the company via a direct sale.
Alfa Telecom is a major player in the country’s telecommunications market, covering 98% of the country’s mobile communications with 3mn subscribers.
Nagornaya was identified as an importer of coffee and tea from Africa.
Alfa Telecom CJSC was established in 2009 by Alexey Eliseyev, an associate of Maksim Bakiyev, son of the then Kyrgyz President Kur- manbek Bakiyev, whose regime was toppled in a revolution in 2010.
The management board of Romanian public television (SRTv) was dismissed on September 27, after the parliament rejected the broadcaster’s annual report for 2016.
The Romanian state broadcaster has been struggling financially for years. According to the head of the parliamentary culture commis- sion Radu Preda, the company’s loss amounted to RON653.9mn (€142.2mn) at the end of last year. Preda added that investments
in programmes dropped 90% and market share shrank by 85%.
The parliamentary culture commission has appointed Doina Gradea as interim chief executive.
Last April, Romania was forced to pull out of the Eurovision song contest due to the state broadcaster’s financial problems.
Romanian state TV management dismissed