OSLO: Telenor chairman Svein Aaser has quit the Norwegian telecom company over corruption allegation.
Trade and Industry Minister Monica Maeland said, “I no longer have confidence in the chairman of Telenor’s board of directors,” adding, “I have now received new information about the matter” which should have been revealed earlier.
The Norwegian state is Telenor’s main shareholder, with a 54-percent stake. The largest telephone operator in the Nordic region, Telenor has been rocked by allegations of corruption in Uzbekistan involving the Russian group VimpelCom, in which it owns 33 percent alongside Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman who owns 56.2 percent through the fund LetterOne.
VimpelCom is being investigated in the United States and the Netherlands for alleged kickbacks paid to a company linked to the daughter of the Uzbek president, in exchange for licenses in the country in the 2000s.
