Alfa Group halts talks with Telenor - report

Russia's Alfa Group, locked in a five-year boardroom war with Norwegian telecoms group Telenor, has halted talks over a potential merger of the companies' Russian and Ukrainian assets, an Alfa official said quoted, by Reuters said on Tuesday.

"No talks are under way right now," Kirill Babayev, senior vice president of Alfa's telecoms management unit, said by telephone.

Russian daily Vedomosti reported Friday that the companies were then close to reaching an agreement on combining their businesses in both countries.

Telenor is at risk of losing its stake in Russia's second largest mobile carrier Vimpelcom, which was seized after a Siberian court's $1.7 billion damages ruling in favor of a tiny shareholder claiming Telenor held back Vimpelcom's business in Ukraine.

Alfa says it has no relation to the plaintiff in the case, Farimex.

Telenor's director of communications in Russia, Anna Ivanova-Galitsina, reiterated Telenor's position that there would be no deal until the Siberian court case ends.

On Tuesday morning, Telenor shares were down 1 percent.