MOSCOW, June 21 - RAPSI. The Moscow Commercial Court has found no reasons for reversing the interim relief against VimpelCom mobile services provider secured by the antitrust watchdog. The company’s complaint has been dismissed.

In May, the Moscow Commercial Court prohibited VimpelCom (Beeline brand) and its parent firm VimpelCom Ltd. from paying out $584 million in dividends for 2011. The companies have also been ordered not to take out loans or make a range of management decisions.

The commercial court had previously imposed restrictions on VimpelCom’s shares as part of the watchdog's lawsuit against VimpelCom Ltd. shareholders.

In particular, VimpelCom Ltd. and VimpelCom Holdings (which own a 99.9 percent interest in VimpelCom) were banned from voting with their shares in the company on a number of issues.

Telenor and Weather Investments, who are VimpelCom's shareholders, were also ordered to refrain from changing the company's board membership or implementing an option agreement between shareholders.

The watchdog sued Telenor in Russia to invalidate its acquisition of VimpelCom's shares from Weather Investments, owned by Egyptian businessman Nagib Sawiris. As a result of the transaction, Telenor increased its stake in VimpelCom Ltd. to 36.36 percent from 25.01 percent.

Watchdog’s head Igor Artemyev has said that he has not lost hope for an out-of-court settlement of the VimpelCom dispute.

In his view, an amicable agreement is possible if the company’s three major shareholders arrive at a mutually acceptable decision.

The regulator’s claim will be heard on its merits on October 17.