Yelena Nagornaya, a Russian citizen, has submitted the sole application to buy Kyrgyzstan's 100% state owned mobile operator Alfa Telecom, operating under the Megacom brand, Tazabek reported on September 27 citing Bolsunbek Kazakov, chairman of the State Property Fund.
The company has been offered at auction five times in recent years, but no one has previously shown interest in acquiring it.
Nagornaya submitted the application as a private entity, agreeing to pay KGS13.5bn ($198mn) for the 100% stake in the operator along with a commission fee amounting to 7% of the acquisition sum. The State Property Fund has started negotiations with Nagornaya, who has no connections to the telecommunications sector.
The price put on the operator at the first auction in May 2016 stood at over $300mn, but over time it fell by over $100mn. This time, however, the authorities have offered the company via a direct sale.
Alfa Telecom is a major player in the country’s telecommunications market, covering 98% of the country’s mobile communications with 3mn subscribers.
Nagornaya was identified as an importer of coffee and tea from Africa.
Alfa Telecom CJSC was established in 2009 by Alexey Eliseyev, an associate of Maksim Bakiyev, son of the then Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, whose regime was toppled in a revolution in 2010.
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