Vimpelcom's (VIP.N) key Russian shareholder Altimo expects the telecoms group's new co-owner Naguib Sawiris to get as many seats on board as Altimo itself and Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL), Altimo's CEO said on Wednesday. The move is certain to infuriate Telenor, which fought a long battle to protect its Vimpelcom powerbase from being eroded as a result of the deal that brought Sawiris on board. Egyptian tycoon Sawiris became a 30.6 percent Vimpelcom shareholder last week after Russia's No.3 mobile phone operator closed a more than $6 billion deal for Wind Telecom, including Orascom Telecom (ORTE.CA) and Italy's Wind. Altimo then surprised the market by saying it would trigger the termination of its 2009 shareholders agreement with Telenor to allow Sawiris roughly equal rights in Vimpelcom, something Telenor had fought to avoid in a futile attempt to block the deal earlier this year.
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