Kazakhs take control of largest Kyrgyz mobile teleco

/REUTERS, Bishkek, April 13, 05/ - Two Kazakh investment firms have won control over Kyrgyzstan's mobile operator Bitel, which accounts for nearly 90 percent of the Central Asian state's mobile phone market, the companies said on Wednesday. A Kyrgyz court seized Bitel's property in late March to prevent the sale of the firm's assets which, according to the prosecutor general, could be owned by ousted President Askar Akayev and his family clan. Akayev and his family fled abroad as the opposition grabbed power on March 24 after weeks of protests. Opposition leaders have said the Akayev clan had vast business interests ranging from alcohol and oil products to retail trade and telecoms. "The new shareholders have serious strategic plans," Kurmangazy Iklazbekov, head of Alliance Capital, affiliated with fast-growing bank Alliance, told a news conference. Alliance Capital teamed up with Seimar investment company to buy Bitel. They declined to disclose how or for how much they bought the stake, saying only the purchase had taken place on Monday. Bitel was created in 1997 by three offshore-registered firms -- Kyrgyz Mobil Tel Ltd., Flaxendale Ltd. and George Resorces Ltd. Russian market analysts have estimated Bitel's value at $150 million to $200 million. According to Russia's AC&M market research group, Bitel has around 300,000 subscribers in the country of five million. ((Reporting by Olga Dzyubenko, Writing by Dmitry Solovyov, Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton; Reuters Messaging: dmitry.solovyev.reuters.com@reuters.net, almaty.newsroom@reuters.com; +7 3272 508500)) [2005-04-13]