Sawiris’ Orascom Telecom Denies Launching Firm To Run Djezzy Under Algerian Control

Orascom Telecom Holding – recently branded as ‘Global Telecom Company’ (ORTE.CA) –  has refuted news about the inception of a new firm so as to run its unit Orascom Telecom Algerie (OTA) ‘Djezzy’ under the control of the Algerian government.

The Vice Chief Finance Offer Khalid Al Leithy said Orascom is still taking the necessary steps to go to international arbitration on Djezzy noting that the parent company VimpelCom had not reached any agreements with the Algerian government so as to put an end to the more than two-year disputes over the unit.

Al Leithy further told ‘Amwal Al Ghad’ that the Russian telecommunications company VimpelCom Ltd. (VIP) is negotiating with the Algerian government so as to reach a compromise. “VimpelCom will not entirely give up its unit Djezzy or its administration right.”

Algeria’s government is in talks to buy the 51 percent stake in Djezzy held by VimpelCom, which became the world’s sixth-largest wireless operator by subscribers after merging with Naguib Sawiris’s Orascom Telecom Holding (ORTE.CA) in 2011. VimpelCom has been in dispute with the Algerian government over the unit for more than two years.

It is worth noting that some Algerian newspapers have circulated news about an agreement between the Algerian government and VimpelCom on founding a new firm to run Djezzy, Orascom Telecom’s unit in Algeria.