OREANDA-NEWS. On 28 July 2008 was announced, that VolgaTelecom has acquired a 40% stake in Ulyanovsk-based cellular operator Ulyanovsk-GSM, thereby raising its stake in the company’s charter capital to 100%. The respective entry on a debit from the account of SMARTS and a credit to the account of VolgaTelecom of 40 common shares, which account for 40% of the charter capital of Ulyanovsk-GSM, appeared in the register of the holders of nominal shares of the operator on July 14, 2008.

Raising its stake in Ulyanovsk-GSM to 100% is one of the stages in rolling out Volga Telecom’s cellular business which focuses on expanding GSM assets and consolidating the cellular business on the basis of NCC.

In 2007, VolgaTelecom completed the reorganization of its cellular business by consolidating on the basis of Nizhny Novgorod cellular operator NCC 5 subsidiaries in which the company has 100% stakes in the charter capital. The next stage of consolidation could involve merging the Ulyanovsk operator with NCC.