Telenor's chairman Svein Aaser has resigned, effective immediately, following a disagreement with the company's largest shareholder, the Norwegian state. Aaser has served as chairman of Telenor since May 2012, and Norway holds almost 54 percent of shares in Telenor.
Aaser said in a statement that he had "different views on the handling of the VimpelCom issue" than the Norwegian minister responsible for managing the Telenor stake. Norwegian Industry Minister Monica Maeland said she no longer had confidence in the chairman, after receiving more information about the Vimpelcom case.
Telenor recently announced that it plans to sell its minority stake in Russia-based Vimpelcom. The Norwegian operator has faced opposition from other shareholders over increasing its stake in Vimpelcom and seen the contribution from the holding decline. The Russian company is also facing a corruption investigation over its activities in Uzbekistan, which has led to Telenor executives being questioned.
Aaser said he assessed his own position as part of the review of Telenor's ownership in Vimpelcom. "VimpelCom has been under investigation for several years, and this has been challenging for Telenor," Aaser said. "I would like to emphasize that it is VimpelCom that is under investigation and that Telenor has fully cooperated with investigating authorities as a witness. The company continues to await the outcome of the investigation."
The Norwegian government said Industry Minister Monica Maeland told Telenor's nomination committee that board chairman Svein Aaser should be replaced with immediate effect, in light of the Vimpelcom affair. Maeland said she no longer had confidence in Aaser. She said she had received new information about the matter, but in view of inquiries that are under way, she could not say any more about what this information is.
