The shares were seized following a court ruling in Omsk in West Siberia that obliged Telenor to pay $1.7 billion to the Russian operator.
Telenor said the seizure was prompted by a New York court ruling on Wednesday against Alfa Group companies regarding a joint venture between Telenor and Alfa in Ukraine, Kyivstar.
"This is a yet another escalation of the attempts to steal our VimpelCom shares with the aid of Russian courts," said Jan Edvard Thygesen, head of Telenor's Central and East European operations.
Following a lawsuit filed by Farimex, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands and holds 0.002% of VimpelCom's stock, Russia's 8th Arbitration Appeals Court in late February ordered Telenor, a core shareholder in VimpelCom, to pay $1.728 billion to the Russian operator VimpelCom.
The lawsuit accused the Norwegian telecoms operator of delaying a deal to purchase Ukrainian cell phone operator Ukrainian Radio Systems.
In 2004-2005, Telenor resisted VimpelCom's attempt to enter the Ukrainian market and buy into cell phone operator Ukrainian Radio Systems, as it put VimpelCom in direct competition with the Norwegian company's other interests in Ukraine.
Telenor officials said the company had not received any official confirmation of the stock seizure and that Telenor had no intention to pay $1.7 billion to VimpelCom.
