IPOC is currently pursuing Alfa Group and LV Finance to establish IPOC as the rightful owner of the 25.1% stake in MegaFon.

IPOC last month successfully won an order from the Privy Council preventing the Alfa Group from selling or dealing with the disputed 25.1% stake in MegaFon.

IPOC is arguing that LV Finance and Alfa Group knowingly struck a deal to try and sell the MegaFon stake twice, in an international fraud with BVI companies at its heart.

IPOC has won the only substantive final 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.

As part of Alfa’s renaming, it is keen to present itself as a suitable partner for western business, but it has a chequered history with its business partners and corporate governance record, and IPOC is warning that old habits die hard.

Commenting, an IPOC spokesperson said:

“Alfa can empire build across Eurasia to its hearts content, but its plans should not include MegaFon. It is not the rightful owner of the 25.1% stake in MegaFon, and no amount of rebranding will change that.

“Whether it is Altimo or Alfa Telecom, it doesn’t matter to us. The respected ICC tribunal in Geneva, upheld by the Swiss Federal Court, exposed LV Finance and Alfa’s collusion in seeking to deprive IPOC of its ownership of the MegaFon stake and confirmed that IPOC is the rightful owner.

“If Alfa Group wants to present itself as a suitable partner for western business it needs to prove it is willing to recognise the validity of agreements and the international arbitration tribunals convened to enforce them.

“Alfa’s involvement in multiple disputes with multiple companies raises huge questions about its decision to come to London to talk about corporate governance.

“We have said from the outset of our legal actions against Alfa that we believe the integrity of contracts with Russian companies is at stake. The principle we are seeking to uphold is a simple one – no matter where you are in the world you can’t sell the same stake twice.

“It may have a new name, but a leopard doesn’t change its spots. It will still be the same old Alfa Group underneath.”

© Kirsten Smart, "Media Strategy"