Russia's Alfa halts talks with Telenor -exec

MOSCOW, June 30 (Reuters) - Russia's Alfa Group, locked in a five-year boardroom war with Telenor (TEL.OL), has halted talks with the Norwegian telecoms group on a potential merger of their Russian and Ukrainian assets, an Alfa official said on Tuesday.

"No talks are under way right now," Kirill Babayev, senior vice president of Alfa's telecoms management unit, said by telephone.

Russian daily Vedomosti had reported on Friday that the companies were close to reaching agreement on combining their businesses in both countries. [nLQ658162]

Telenor is at risk of losing its stake in Russia's second largest mobile carrier Vimpelcom (VIP.N), which was seized after a Siberian court's $1.7 billion damages ruling in favour of a tiny shareholder claiming Telenor held back Vimpelcom's business in Ukraine.

Alfa says it has no relation to the plaintiff in the case, Farimex.

Telenor's director of communications in Russia, Anna Ivanova-Galitsina, reiterated Telenor's position that there would be no deal until the Siberian court case ends.

At 0739 GMT, Telenor shares were down 1 percent.

(Reporting by Anastasia Teterevleva; writing by Melissa Akin; editing by John Stonestreet)