Belarus to put its 51% stake in MTS Belarus up for sale soon

MOSCOW, Feb 14 (PRIME) -- The Belarusian government plans to put its 51% stake in mobile operator MTS Belarus up for sale soon, Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Kalinin said Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported.

The stake is included on a privatization list for 2012. The Eurasian Development Bank said in a survey seen by PRIME in early January 2012 that the government planned to close the deal by February.

In December 2011, an auction to sell the stake was cancelled as bids did not comply with requirements of the auction.

The starting price for the stake amounted to U.S. $1 billion, while the participation fee amounted to $50 million.

MTS Belarus was established in 2002. Its mobile user base amounted to more than 4.8 million subscribers as of September 30, 2011. Major Russian mobile operator MTS holds a 49% stake in MTS Belarus.

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