The current injunction preventing the Alfa Group from selling or dealing with the disputed stake expired today, following the Privy Council's decision to decline IPOC's request for leave to appeal on the basis that Russia is the appropriate place for the dispute to be heard. However, arbitration proceedings are still ongoing in Zurich and IPOC is concerned that the Alfa Group will try to sell the stake ahead of any decision.

IPOC has already won the only substantive ruling in the MegaFon dispute to date. The International Chamber of Commerce in Geneva, in a ruling upheld by the Swiss Federal Courts, found that Alfa and LV Finance had knowingly engaged in an illegal scheme to deprive IPOC of its rightful ownership of part of the shareholding in dispute. The ICC also indicated it believed that LV Finance were purveyors of unreliable testimony and dismissed their money laundering and corruption allegations.

The ICC's decision established the strength of IPOC's position in its ongoing legal battle with LV Finance and Alfa Group. Arbitration proceedings over IPOC's second option agreement with LV Finance are currently under way in Zurich.

The three Alfa subsidiaries which currently control the MegaFon stake are based in the BVI, and without an injunction, IPOC has always been concerned Alfa Group will seek to sell or squirrel away this stake to hamper IPOC's efforts to enforce its rights.

The sale process involved a complex web of over a dozen offshore companies, several based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), including the three Alfa-Eco subsidiaries presently holding the stake.

Commenting, an IPOC spokesperson said:

"Anyone considering doing business with the Alfa Group should be warned that this stake comes with a serious health warning. It is not Alfa's to sell; they have already knowingly colluded once in a scheme to deprive IPOC of its rightful ownership.

"They have peddled a series of smears and conspiracy theories to try and divert attention from the massive corporate fraud they have perpetrated.

"The Alfa Group ride roughshod over whatever and whoever gets in their way, regardless of legal agreements or accepted standards of business. We have said, from the outset of our legal actions against Alfa, that we believe the integrity of contractual relationships with Russian companies is at stake.

"We are currently assessing our options and are determined to continue our legal action, but potential purchasers should be warned that the stake is not Alfa's to sell."

For further information please contact Kirsten Smart or Enda Joyce at Media Strategy in London on +44 (0) 20 7400 4480 or +44 (0) 7855 489 616 (mobile).

"MForum.ru"