BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

10/09/2007

Telekom Austria says in talks on potential acquisition in Belarus

VIENNA (Thomson Financial) - Telekom Austria Group AG confirmed media reports it is in talks on a potential acquisition in Belarus.

Media reports citing unnamed sources at the weekend said that the telecom company's mobile arm Mobilkom has long been in talks for a 1 bln eur takeover of one of Belarus' largest mobile operators.

In a statement, the Austrian telecom company said it cannot give any additional statement at this time.

The largest mobile suppliers in Belarus' mobile phone market are MTS (Mobile TeleSystems) and Velcom. Both are majority owned by the State as are their smaller competitors BelCel and BNT.

Source:

http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2007/09/10/afx4097568.html