Finnish government takes issue with decision to elect Telia CEO to TeliaSonera board

Nordic Business Report, Nov 5, 2002

NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT-5 November 2002-Finnish government takes issue with decision to elect Telia CEO to TeliaSonera board (C)1994-2002 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com

The Finnish ministry of transport and communications has taken issue with a decision by the Swedish telecommunications group Telia's extraordinary shareholders' meeting to elect Telia's CEO as a member of the board of TeliaSonera, the proposed combination of Telia and the Finnish mobile operator Sonera.

The ministry issued a statement today (5 November) saying that the election of Telia's CEO was against a shareholders' agreement entered into by the Finnish and Swedish states.

"The agreement contains, inter alia, an agreement concerning the balance within the board of directors of the combined company and an agreement to the effect that executives of the company shall not serve as members of the board of directors. These conditions have not been fulfilled by the decision adopted by Telia's extraordinary shareholders' meeting yesterday," the Finnish ministry of transport and communications said in a statement.

The ministry added that efforts were being made to resolve the matter and that it had contacted its Swedish counterpart about the matter.

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