"This transaction was completed by VimpelCom in violation of Russian law, bypassing VimpelCom's Board and circumventing the minority shareholder protections in VimpelCom's charter," said Jan Edvard Thygesen, Telenor Executive Vice President and Director of Central and Eastern Europe. "To date, VimpelCom management has actively tried to hide information concerning this transaction and its beneficiaries. The court granted our request and today forced VimpelCom to give us what they claim is the URS share purchase agreement. As part of our efforts to minimize the harm done to VimpelCom shareholders, we are seeking to have the transaction unwound and the proceeds of the purchase price returned to VimpelCom."