Beltelecom sets 19 September date for presentation to sell state’s 51% stake in MTS Belarus

Belarusian state owned fixed line incumbent Beltelecom has set 19 September as the date for a presentation of the auction process to sell the government’s 51% stake in mobile operator MTS Belarus. Previous efforts to offload the share have foundered amid concerns over the high asking price. The last attempt took place as recently as November 2012 when the government invited 45 companies to bid, but no one was interested given the USD1 billion asking price. Russian powerhouse Mobile TeleSystems owns the other 49% of MTS Belarus and has long argued that the state’s valuation of its interest is too high.