Vimpelcom shareholder sells 28.5% of preferred shares

Oleg Kiselev, a shareholder in VimpelCom Ltd., sold 28.5% of the company's preferred shares, or nearly 6% of the company's charter capital, to Cypriot company Bertofan Investments Ltd. after signing an agreement on Dec. 30, Russian daily Vedomosti reports Tuesday.

Kiselev, who is also a founder of Altimo, the telecoms unit of Russian financial conglomerate Alfa Group and Norwegian telecommunication company Telenor ASA's partner in VimpelCom, purchased the VimpelCom stake in June, prompting the dissolution of a shareholder agreement as it took Altimo's shareholding in VimpelCom below 25%.

Telenor said in November that it has found proof that the purchase was a "sham transaction" because Altimo had funded the buyer of those shares.