On August 26, Vedomosti published an article saying Svyazinvest's general director, Alexander Kiselev could soon be re-elected. With reference to some unnamed sources, the newspaper said that the initiative to change the holding's general director had come from the Russian Ministry of Communications (Minkomsvyaz).
The telecommunications community believes Kiselev to be a protégé of Leonid Reiman, ex-minister of communications and currently presidential advisor. Therefore, with the coming of the new minister, it would be logical to expect that the head of Russia's largest fixed line communications company would also be replaced. However, we do not see any real prerequisites for any dramatic changes in the holding or for an acceleration of a privatization process for the state share package in Svyazinvest. On one hand, the position of Svyazinvest's general director does not imply any active strategic steps, which are taken by the company's BoD and shareholders. On the other hand, decisions as regards Svyazinvest are made by much higher officials, and the market does not suggest any reason to believe that the holding's state share package will be sold off soon.
At the same time, we should note than in the current market environment, Russian telecommunication companies have become extremely attractive from the fundamental point of view: the upsides of many issuers have exceeded 100%. Although the negative market situation and political news has become significant for speculators, we should remember that fixed line communication operators are an essential part of the infrastructure of the economy and their risks are relatively low.
0.569
0.073
