Reports in Bulgarian business newspaper Capital say that Spas Rusev, who is the largest shareholder in Bulgarian operator Vivacom, wants to talk to Deutsche Telekom about the two other businesses.
Last week Rusev led the €50 million purchase of Telekom Albania from Greek operator OTE, which is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. OTE’s CEO, Michael Tsamaz, said: “The acquisition of the company by a strong and entrepreneurial investment group ensures its growth and creates the conditions to further strengthen its market position.”
Capital said today that Rusev “is interested” in Telekom Romania, based in Bucharest, and Makedonski Telekom, based in Skopje. But he has admitted that “no official talks have yet been held”, according to the paper.
He added: “Deutsche Telekom is a stock company and will officially announce when there is an open negotiation process and I hope to be one of the participants.”
Rusev told Capital that he wants to build up a group of telecoms operators in the region, based in Bulgaria. He owns 46% of the Vivacom holding company, BTC, but has bid for Telekom Albania personally, not via Vivacom, he said.
He added that his goal was for “Bulgaria to become a telecom hub for the region”.
Capital says that Deutsche Telekom is looking for around €1 billion for its operations in Romania and Macedonia – the former Yugoslav republic that is likely to be renamed North Macedonia shortly.
