OREANDA-NEWS. February 11, 2014. VTB Group and its partners, Bank “ROSSIYA” and entities controlled by Alexey Mordashov, announce the merger of the mobile assets of Tele2 Russia with the mobile assets of Rostelecom into a single company, T2 RTK Holding.

The mobile operator will continue to operate under the well-established and popular Tele2 brand. VTB and its partners will own at least 55% of the new company, with Rostelecom having a 45% stake.

During the first phase of the integration, Rostelecom will transferal its mobile subsidiaries – including SkyLink, Nizhegorodskaya Sotovaya Svyaz, Baikalvestcom, BIT, Volgograd GSM, Yenisey Telecom and AKOS – to the new company. In the second phase, Rostelecom will transfer its integral mobile assets.

The new company will provide services in more than 60 regions across Russia to a subscriber base of about 38 million people.

The agreement opens up new opportunities for Tele2 Russia. It will gain licenses (2G/3G/4G) to expand mobile coverage across all 83 regions of Russia, including Moscow, and provide a wide range of services including high-speed mobile internet access.