MOSCOW, June 6 (RIA Novosti) - Svyazinvest's stake in Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS) will be valued within the next two to three weeks, Russia's information technologies minister said Tuesday.
Leonid Reiman said the Russian state-owned telecoms giant's stake is being valued by international auditing firm KPMG.
After the valuation, the Information Technologies Ministry, the Federal Property Agency, and the Economic Development and Trade Ministry will make recommendations on selling the stake, Reiman said.
"If the price is correct, this will have a positive influence on Svyazinvest and state revenue," he said.
MGTS is one of the largest fixed line operators in Russia, with installed capacity of about 4.4 million telephone numbers. The company's share of the Moscow fixed line telecoms market is about 80%.
Svyazinvest holds 28% of MGTS' voting shares. Russian operator Comstar United Telesystems, which holds 63.65% of MGTS' common stock, has twice tendered to buy the Svyazinvest stake at 490 rubles ($18.35) per share. However, the Russian government failed to reach a decision on the sale before the deadline for the last tender on May 17.
Comstar Director General Semyon Rabovsky previously said the company did not plan to launch a third tender for the stake, but that the issue could be resolved through negotiations.
