Consultants hired by Algeria to value Orascom Telecom's (ORTE.CA) local mobile phone unit are scheduled to complete their work by the end of May, Algerian telecommunications minister Moussa Benhamadi told Reuters. Algeria's government has said it will nationalise the Djezzy unit after a row with the Egyptian parent company over hundreds of millions of dollars in back taxes and over the unit's ownership. Uncertainty over how long the nationalisation will take, and how much Algeria will pay for the lucrative unit has hampered a multi-billion-dollar deal for Russia's Vimpelcom (VIP.N) to buy Orascom Telecom assets.
Source
