"Vimpelcom’s request to buy Golden Telecom was received on January 18 and we have already given our permission for the deal," the source said.

Golden Telecom owns over 54% of the joint venture Buzton (Tashkent), one of the leading alternative telecom operators in Uzbekistan. Other Buzton shareholders are the national operator Uzbektelecom and U.S. company NCI Projects International Inc. Buzton was established in 1995. It offers local and long-distance services as well as Interent access.

Vimpelcom, the second largest mobile phone operator in the CIS, owns the second largest mobile phone operator in Uzbekistan Unitel, which offers GSM-900 and GSM-1800 standard services. The company announced in November 2007 that it had received a license to build, operate and offer IMT-2000/UMBTS (3G) standard services throughout Uzbekistan.