MOSCOW: Vimpelcom sees a high chance that its deal to buy the telecoms assets of Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris will go ahead despite opposition from key shareholder Telenor, its CEO was quoted as saying. "I think the chances (of a deal) are high," Alexander Izosimov told Russia's Kommersant business daily in an interview published on Thursday. He added that he was still hopeful that Vimpelcom may secure control of prized Algerian telecoms assets under the deal. Norwegian group Telenor is pursuing a court injunction which could derail Vimpelcom's planned $6 billion plus purchase of Sawiris's Wind Telecom, with a court hearing due on Feb. 25. Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Alfa-Group, the other main owner of Vimpelcom, backs the deal, which would make the Russian operator one of the world's biggest by giving it control of Egyptian group Orascom Telecom and Wind Italy. If Telenor wins the arbitration tribunal ruling, it would have the right to take the escrow shares and pay Vimpelcom a sum Telenor has said was about 15 billion crowns ($2.6 billion) but which Izosimov reckons is higher. "According to the estimates of our lawyers, the cost of these shares for Telenor should be $3.3 billion," he said. One potential problem with the deal is that Algeria is seeking to nationalize Orascom's crown jewel Djezzy. Izosimov said there had been no progress on that since early October, but struck a hopeful note. "We are getting signals that after there is clarity on the deal, dialogue could resume," he said. "So it is far too premature to say now that the Algerian operator is excluded from the deal."
