Belarus takes big step with Velcom privatization

By Graham Stack in Minsk bne Velcom's new Austrian CEO Helmut Duhs does not hesitate to call the privatization of Belarus' second-largest mobile operator by Telecom Austria, "the biggest step in privatisation for Belarus." The 37-year-old Duhs hardly anticipated Minsk as a future posting, but since he took over in November, Velcom has become a flagship for Belarus' new economic policy of openness. The privatization has been a feather in the cap for President Alexander Lukashenko's privatization programme, but the deal was mired in scandal to start with. Only a year ago, the Belarusian government suddenly announced that its second-largest mobile telecom asset, then called Mobile Digital Communications (MDC), had been clandestinely privatized for an undisclosed sum to a shadowy Syrian investor called Ead Samawi, bringing with... [read full story]