A new $23.8 billion company that will be a major player in emerging economies' telecommunications has incorprorated in Bermuda.

VimpelCom Ltd., whose headquarters will be in the Netherlands, operates in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Centra Asia, as well in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia - territories with a combined population of 340 million people.

The company was formed this month by the merger of Russian telecoms giant Vimpel Communications and the Ukrainian firm Kyivstar, by their joint owners Telenor and Alfa Group.

Norwegian company Telenor and its Russian partner Altimo, the telecoms arm of Alfa Group, have agreed to suspend an ongoing five-year legal battle and a $1.7 billion damages claim against Telenor will be dropped.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, a law firm acting for Telenor, said yesterday that the two companies had agreed to settle or withdraw all legal actions before closing of the VimpelCom deal, which is expected in mid-2010.

Each company will take just over a third of VimpelCom Ltd.

Alfa Group made headlines in Bermuda during its four-year legal fight with the now wound-up Island-based IPOC Fund between 2003 and 2007, over ownership of a $4 billion stake in Russian telecoms firm MegaFon. VimpelCom will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

"This exciting development strengthens VimpelCom's position as a global player in the telecommunications industry," said the company's chief executive officer Boris Nemsic.

"It provides us with renewed clarity on a strategy of growth and expansion.

"We are delighted that our two major shareholders have agreed on a framework to create a powerful new vehicle for growth with VimpelCom and Kyivstar joined together under the newly listed VimpelCom Ltd. as one group.

"We believe this transaction will have positive strategic, synergistic and operational value for both companies, their shareholders and their customers."