"This information is incorrect," the channel's commercial director Artyom Chefranov said commenting on media reports. "We have concluded a framework agreement with AFK Sistema and the size of the stake will be determined by the main shareholder, but the issue has not been yet decided."
Alexander Lebedev, the channel's editor-in-chief, also said that the size of the stake to be sold to AFK Sistema had not been agreed upon.
He said the channel had signed an agreement with the Defense Ministry, the channel's main shareholder with a 51% stake, on July 26, which determined that AFK Sistema would become a Zvezda shareholder.
"But the share package will be determined only after negotiations," Lebedev said.
"It is impossible to acquire a controlling stake in the company because it already belongs to the state through the Defense Ministry," he said. "Five percent of the remaining stake has been sold to Svyazinvest subsidiaries and 44% percent are still for sale."
AFK Sistema, which manages businesses in service-based industries, including telecommunications, technology, insurance, banking, real estate, retail and media, also denied the sale had gone through.
"There is no deal at present," a spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The Defense Ministry refused to comments on the share agreement between the two companies.
Zvezda started regular broadcasts on April 24, 2005. Based on the Defense Ministry's Central Television and Radio Studio, it initially limited its programs to reruns of patriotically-minded feature films and documentaries, but it said it would air reality shows on military-related subjects.
