KYIV, Oct 24 – The Antimonopoly Committee has permitted Azerbaijan's Bakcell telecom operator to acquire shares in Preludium B.V. (the Netherlands) through which MTS Group owns the second largest mobile communications operator in Ukraine – PrJSC VF Ukraine (Vodafone Ukraine).

"Today, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine granted permission to Bakcell LLC for the indirect purchase of shares of Preludium B.V., which grants over 50% of the votes in the management body of the company. This will allow the company from Azerbaijan to get indirect control over the Ukrainian mobile communications operator, known under the Vodafone brand," the committee said in the Facebook social network.

Bakcell, founded in 1994, is the mobile communications operator and a leading provider of mobile Internet in Azerbaijan. It operates in GSM, UMTS and LTE standards.