Billionaire Yury Kovalchuck and his partners bought a 50% stake of Tele2 Russia Holding. Kovalchuk, a known ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, purchased the stake through his Bank Rossiya. Together with his partners including steelmaking billionaire Alexey Mordashov, the Tele2 ownership stake was bought from the state-run bank VTB Group.

This year, VTB acquired the Russian business of Sweden-based Tele2 in a USD 2.4 billion deal. The purchase price for the stake was not disclosed but VTB said it was in line with its expectations.

According to a Bloomberg report, the purchase would make Tele2 Russia a stronger competitor against the three dominant players in the country's wireless market. Mobile TeleSystems, MegaFon and VimpelCom are currently the three leading operators in the industry.

VTB Chairman Andrey Kostin said this month Tele2 Russia and Rostelecom may merge to create the fourth mobile operator nationwide. He said owners of Tele2 Russia would most likely retain majority control.