Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas has resigned from the supervisory board of VimpelCom with immediate effect in order to avoid any conflict of interest in the ongoing investigation into corruption allegations over Vimpelcom's entry on the Uzbekistan market. Telenor holds 33 percent of Vimpelcom's shares and 43 percent of the voting rights. As allowed under Vimpelcom's statues, Baksaas seconded his vote to Kjell Morten Johnsen, another Telenor representative on the board.
Baksaas will focus on defending Telenor's interests in VimpelCom, and the Telenor board has appointed a special committee of board members to follow the developments at Vimpelcom. "Telenor has zero tolerance for corruption," Baksaas said in a statement. "As an owner in VimpelCom we will assist the ongoing investigations."
Vimpelcom confirmed it March it was under investigation in the US and the Netherlands over its activities in Uzbekistan. Its offices in Amsterdam were raided, and Norwegian police also visited Telenor in Norway over the matter. Vimpelcom said it was cooperating fully with the investigations.
