"We want to disregard the (URS acquisition) transaction at the next board meeting," Henrik Torgersen, senior vice-president of Telenor and VimpelCom board member, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Earlier Wednesday, three representatives of Telenor on VimpelCom's board of directors blocked the company's budget for 2006 because of disagreement over the Ukrainian strategy.

Torgersen said Telenor objected to the URS buy as expensive and risky. He added that it was unrealistic to build up the fourth-largest national operator with between 15% and 20% market share by investing just $500 million on top of a purchase price of $231 million.

"Instead, I would suggest to (VimpelCom Chief Executive Alexander) Izosimov to get a license then carefully build network, plant a Beeline (VimpelCom's brand) flag and show to financial investors that it has exposure to this fast-growing market," Torgersen said. Otherwise, VimpelCom should continue concentrating on the Russian market, offering new products that no other company has, he said.

Commenting on the possibility of a merger between VimpelCom and Kyivstar, both co-owned by Telenor and Alfa, Torgersen said Telenor would only consent if it kept control over the joint company. However, "if Alfa had agreed to it, we would have done it by now."

He also denied any plans to sell a stake in either Kyivstar or VimpelCom. "We will definitely not be choosing between Kyivstar and VimpelCom," he said.

© Anna Ivanova-Galitsina, Dow Jones Newswires