UPDATE 1-Telenor says Siberian court case to resume Dec 25
(Adds details, developments in another Telenor-Alfa case)
OSLO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Norwegian telecoms company Telenor (TEL.OL) said on Friday that a Siberian court would resume on Dec. 25 hearing its appeal of a $2.8 billion award it has been ordered to pay Russian mobile operator Vimpelcom (VIP.N).
"The court heard the presentation of Telenor's appeal today, but, due to a lack of time, was unable to complete the hearing," Telenor said in a statement.
"This case has no legal basis and should be dismissed," Jan Edvard Thygesen, head of Telenor's Central and East European operations, said in the statement.
Telenor had appealed a verdict by a lower Siberian court in a suit brought by British Virgin Islands-based Farimex, a small shareholder in Vimpelcom, which claims the Russian group was hurt by Telenor's reluctance to expand into Ukraine.
Telenor believes Farimex is linked to Alfa, run by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, with which it has had a rocky relationship marked by numerous court and boardroom battles.
Alfa denies any link to Farimex. Telenor holds 29.9 percent of the voting shares in Vimpelcom, the No. 2 mobile operator in Russia, while Alfa holds 44 percent.
If Telenor loses the appeal in the Eighth Arbitrazh Appellate Court in Omsk, it could be forced to hand its Vimpelcom stake over to the court, which could then force its sale to pay the imposed award.
Telenor has signalled it would appeal any potential negative verdict in a higher court.
Shares in Telenor were up 0.8 percent at 43.30 crowns at 1335 GMT, outperforming a 0.3 percent fall on the Dow Jones Stoxx Telecoms Index .SXKP.
In another court case over Kyivstar, the Ukrainian mobile venture of Telenor and Alfa, a U.S. federal court said Alfa's telecoms arm Altimo and partners had complied with its verdict and granted Altimo's motion to cancel all sanctions against it.
"Altimo intends to continue its efforts to restore corporate governance and assist Kyivstar in its development," Altimo Vice President Kirill Babaev said in a statement.
The U.S. court had earlier ruled Altimo and its partners in contempt of its rulings and ordered daily escalating fines, but the Russian group sent its representatives to Kyivstar's shareholder meeting last week, effectively ending the conflict.
Earlier Altimo had boycotted Kyivstar meetings, saying Telenor -- which owns 56.5 percent of the venture -- was neglecting minority investors in the running of the company. (Additional reporting by Maria Kiselyova in Moscow; Editing by Chris Wickham)
