The Russian government, which is yet to finalise the amount of investment in Sistema Shyam Teleservices, is likely to make the investment in a single tranche. The investment, which is awaiting Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s approval, is likely to be finalised by September this year.
?I think the entire amount from the Russian government will come in a single tranche,? said Vsevolod Rozanov, president and CEO of SSTL. MTS, the mobile telephony brand of SSTL, had Russian parliament’s approval in April this year for an investment up to $676 mn.
Although the Russian Parliament has approved infusion of $ 676 mn into Shyam Sistema Teleservices, it is up to the Russian government to decide on the final amount. The CDMA service provider already has the board’s approval for selling 19.8% stake in the company to the Russian govt.
As long as the amount of investment is not finalised, the Russian government’s stake in the company will not be finalised. ?My hypothesis is valuation will remain more or less the same. How much of stake the Russian government will pick up depends on the amount of investment,? Rozanov said. ?The whole thing should be completed by September-October this year,? he added.
At an extraordinary general body meeting last December, the board of SSTL decided to issue around 66 crore equity shares to the Russian Federal Agency for State Property Management of the Russian Federation at Rs 49.31 per equity share.
So far MTS has invested around $ 1.5 million in Indian operations and plans to pump in another $ 1 million in a year’s time.
Meanwhile, SSTL is planning to launch EVDO enabled smart phones in the Indian market within a few weeks. ?We are talking to almost all the big brands to bring in variety in handsets,? Rozanov said.