OTE Sells Telekom Albania to Bulgarian Businessmen

Deutsche Telekom's Greek subsidiary, OTE, is to sell the whole of Telekom Albania to Bulgarian Vivacom owner Spas Roussev and an Albanian-Bulgarian businessman, Elvin Guri, OTE said on Wednesday in a press release.

Roussev is a controversial figure in Bulgaria who boasts a long history of links with Bulgarian politicians and Russian financiers, having participated in key deals with Russian banks.

His telecommunications company Telelink has a strong foothold on the market in Bulgaria. His most significant purchase by far came in 2014-2015 when he bought Vivacom, one of the three largest mobile networks in the country, in a consortium with VTB Capital and the Delta Company of ex-finance minister Milen Velchev.

Velchev and Roussev share a history dating back at least to the early 2000s, when he, Velchev and Ivan Todorov, a convicted smuggler who was later killed, were pictured on a yacht in Monaco that Roussev had hired to watch the F-1 race.

At the time, Roussev said he, Velchev and other politicians only "happened to be" on the same boat as Todorov to watch the race, and they only spoke briefly.

"One reason why I am not in politics is to be able to freely communicate with all sorts of people," he told the Trud newspaper, as quoted by Dnevnik.bg

Roussev was seen as the "godfather" of a number of young financiers in Bulgaria, including Velchev, who he brought back from London in the 2001-2005 period, when then prime minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was seeking young talent for his government.

The businessman also has interests in the hotel business after purchasing the Radisson Hotel in Sofia and part of Hilton-Sofia, in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

He is also owner of the Sofia soccer club Levski. His...