Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted approval for the state-owned telecommunications behemoth Rostelekom to acquire the Finnish mobile operator Nokia’s shares in a joint venture based in Russia.
This decision comes against the backdrop of legislation enacted in response to Western sanctions, mandating that any transaction leading to the departure of a Western company from sectors deemed strategically significant by Moscow must receive personal authorization from the Kremlin leader.
In a decree unveiled on Wednesday, Putin formally sanctioned a subsidiary of Rostelekom, a company overseen by various state development entities and a state-owned bank, to procure Nokia’s 49% stake in the joint venture named “RTC — Network Technologies.”
Established in 2018, this collaboration between Rostelekom and Nokia aimed to spearhead investments in cutting-edge technologies, particularly focusing on advancements in 5G infrastructure and the expansive realm of the “internet of things,” as elucidated in a press release issued at the venture’s inception.
In April 2022, following Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in February of the same year, the Finnish company declared its intention to withdraw from the Russian market.
Tensions between Russia and the West have intensified over the past two years, leading to disputes over the ownership of assets located in each other’s territories.
Last week, Moscow unveiled retaliatory measures, allowing it to seize assets belonging to U.S. entities in Russia.
Since the commencement of the conflict, the Russian government has assumed “temporary” control over several Western companies, a move criticized by both affected companies and Western officials as unlawful nationalization.
Concurrently, the West has targeted Russia’s telecommunications infrastructure by imposing sanctions on technology and hardware exports.
