TECH

Russian telecom operator MTS tries to evade heavy sanctions imposed by the European Union

The owners of MTS transferred about 1% of their shares to the company's chairman, Vyacheslav Nikolaev, to protect themselves from possible sanctions. The Russian telecommunications company announced the reduction of the effective participation of the main shareholder of AFK Sistema in its capital to 49.94%.

This step is associated with fears of imposing sanctions on AFK Sistema and its main shareholder Vladimir Yevtushenkov (holds 59.2% of the corporation's shares), which would negatively affect the work of MTS. Now that AFK Sistema does not have a controlling interest in MTS, there is no longer that risk for the operator.

As reported, Vyacheslav Nikolaev received 19,983,816 shares of common stock in the company, in addition to his stake in MTS PJSC shares previously received as part of MTS PJSC's long-term incentive programs from Bastion LLC, a subsidiary of MTS. At the same time, AFK Sistema's participation in MTS' capital remained at the same level – 42.085% of the operator's total volume of common shares.

The transfer of shares to Nikolaev was approved by the operator's board of directors on the recommendation of its remuneration and appointments committee. “The increase in my stake in MTS at this difficult time is due to strong confidence in the company's outlook, strategy and future,” said Nikolaev. “Under the current circumstances, MTS can receive a powerful new impetus in development, when domestic businesses will play an even more significant role in the country's economy.”

AVnews