MOSCOW, November 23 - RAPSI. The Federal Antimonopoly Service has recalled the lawsuit it submitted to the Moscow Commercial Court against Telenor to invalidate its purchase of VimpelCom Ltd. shares; the interim measures under the lawsuit were removed, the agency's press release reads.

The statement says that Federal Antimonopoly Service head Igor Artemyev submitted a motion to the court on Friday to recall all the service's claims regarding Telenor, including the interim measures previously taken.

"We thank VimpelCom shareholders for their cooperation and for their patience during this difficult dispute. We are very glad it is over now," Artemyev said.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service earlier disputed a transaction between Telenor and Weather - owned by Egyptian businessman Nagib Savirirs - that resulted in the Norwegian company becoming the largest shareholder in VimpelCom, with a 39.5 percent stake. VimpelCom has a 100 percent stake in the Russian communications major of the same name.

However, another shareholder, Altimo, which controls Alfa Group's telecommunication assets, subsequently increased its stake in VimpelCom to 47.85 percent from 41.9 percent after buying the shares of Bertofan Investments Limited, owned by Ukrainian businessman Viktor Pinchuk. Thus, the foreign investor can no longer have control of a strategic Russian company.

VimpelCom was established in autumn 2009 as the result of a merger between Altimo, which manages the telecommunication assets of VimpelCom's major shareholder Alfa Group, and Telenor interests in Russia's VimpelCom and Ukraine's Kievstar. In mid-April 2011 VimpelCom merged with Wind Telecom (former Weather Investments) to become the world's sixth leading cellular operator in terms of user numbers.

Altimo, a Russian shareholder, holds a 40.5 percent stake in VimpelCom Ltd. Telenor was also prohibited from implementing the option contract under the watchdog's lawsuit.