Russia gives conditional approval for VimpelCom sale

Russia’s government commission on foreign investment has approved the sale of telecoms company VimpelCom on condition that at least 90% of bonds in Dutch parent VEON are bought back from Russian investors, state-owned news agency RIA reported on Friday.

Veon said in November that it would sell Vimpelcom to a team led by CEO Aleksander Torbakhov for 130 billion roubles ($2.2 billion), joining a long list of Western companies that have sold up in Russia since the country sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine almost a year ago.

Russian media outlet RBC on Wednesday reported that the sale had been approved, citing two unnamed sources. Reuters