Belarus sold Velcom shares for $556mn

Georgy Kuznyatsou, the chairman of Belarus's State Committee for Property, today voiced the amount received after the sale of the Belarusian state's shares in Velcom, a mobile phone operator company. The shares were sold for $556 million, reports Belapan. Official sources had earlier declined to reveal the exact cost of the transaction. The government sold its Velcom shares in August 2007. The transaction took place at the time when Belarus was desperately looking for loans and money in order to pay for the Russian gas.