Telenor gains control of Mobi 63

Telenor gains control of Mobi 63

Ministers Mlađan Dinkić and Predrag Bubalo will sign the transfer document today at a ceremony held at the Hyatt hotel. On the side of Telenor, Executive Vice President and Company Director for Central and Eastern Europe Jan Edvard Thygesen and General Director for Stein Erik Vellan will be signing the transfer document.

Telenor purchased Mobi 63 at an auction held in late July, bidding more than 1.5 billion euros for the company. The Serbian budget increased by 1.115 billion euros as a result of the privatisation.

The company will be branded Telenor.

Telenor also announced a new management team for the company, to be headed by Stein-Erik Vellan as CEO. The new management will assume their positions effective from September 1.

"We are proud to announce the completion of our acquisition of Mobi 63 and the commencement of our operations in the strategically important Serbian market. At the same time, Telenor would like to congratulate the Serbian Government on the very professional and transparently handled bidding and auction process. To demonstrate our firm dedication to our Serbian operations, we are pleased to announce our new management team, to be headed by CEO Stein Erik Vellan. This carefully selected, highly competent and internationally experienced management team, bring the best of Telenor's top executives from across our existing operations in Europe to cooperate with the well-run existing Serbian organisation in creating a first class mobile operator for Serbia," said Jan Edvard Thygesen.

"We have our roots in Norway, but we consider ourselves to be a truly international organisation, providing world-class communications services to our customers - who now number close to 100 million across 13 countries. We will utilise our experience from the Telenor Group to enhance our Serbian company's performance and secure the best possible mobile services for our Serbian customers. Telenor aims to be a driving force in the Serbian mobile market and will continue our long tradition of offering products and service solutions that are relevant to our customers. From today we will be focussed on improving services, products, marketing, network and coverage to meet the needs of the Serbian market," concluded Thygesen.

CEO Stein-Erik Vellan comes from the position of Vice President in Telenor and has for the past year headed Telenor's sales and marketing division in the Norwegian business market.

Before joining Telenor as a Sales Director in 2001, Mr. Vellan was CEO of The Thrane Group. From 1993 until 2000 he worked with Cap Gemini as Group Marketing Director both in Norway and internationally, from his base in Paris. Vellan has been and is a board member of various Norwegian companies. He holds a degree in marketing from the Norwegian School of Management.

Serbian President Boris Tadić said that the arrival of Telenor in Serbia will set an example for further investments by large companies, and that investments in the telecommunications sector are very important because they are a sign of a nation’s fast development.

Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica said that Telenor’s investment represents a clear sign to foreign investors that working in Serbia offers security and perspective and that this move will stir the development of Serbian industries and the growth of the living standard of Serbia’s citizens.