By Lukas I. Alpert
MOSCOW--Two companies affiliated with private lender Bank
Rossiya have filed an application with Russia's anti-monopoly
regulator to buy Tele2 Russia, the country's fourth- largest mobile
operator, Interfax reported Friday.
The filings were made by offshore companies Invinte BV and ABR
Investments BV, as representatives of the St. Petersburg-based Bank
Rossiya, said the report, citing the regulator.
Bank Rossiya didn't immediately respond to a message seeking
comment.
Russia's second-largest lender VTB Bank (VTBR.RS) purchased the
mobile operator in April from its Swedish parent, Tele2 AB
(TELE2-B.SK) for $3.55 billion.
VTB has long signaled that it intended to sell the asset
quickly, and many analysts had suspected it might be merged with
one of Russia's other three large operators. But the Federal
Anti-Monopoly Service had said it was unlikely to approve such a
deal.
The sale has also been linked to Russia' state-run telecoms
operator, Rostelecom (RTKM.RS), but VTB said in June that was
unlikely.
Earlier this week, VTB's President Andrei Kostin said the
company was likely to be sold to three or four investors in the
next few weeks.
Write to Lukas I. Alpert ay lukas.alpert@wsj.com
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