So now it seems the Latvian government, having defacto rejected the management and staff buy-out of Lattelecom (the new government has not even set a date for talking to CEO Nils Melngailis about it, a subtle way of showing the middle finger to him and his ideas on top of the previous government stripping the man of his Lattelecom chairmanship), and having dismissed a proposal to privatize Lattelecom through the Riga Stock Exchange, then having said it wants to keep the status quo and hope TeliaSonera finds someone to buy its 49 %, now says it wants to talk to TeliaSonera again.
Well, Foxtrot Foxtrot Sierra*, where was the Latvian government in 2004, when TeliaSonera offered to pay something like SEK 9 million (or maybe it was USD) just for starting talks with the Swedes by the end of that year?? Nothing happened. Nor did anyone hold any kind of talks until 2006, when the sides agreed to do separate valuations of Lattelecom and mobile operator LMT in order to go ahead with a swap of TeliaSonera's holdings in Lattelecom for the rest of the state's share in LMT. Then that deal was never done. Then came the MBO proposal, also effectively dismissed.
So now what?
1) Nils should seriously consider working for someone who is not majority owned by a wacko banana republic loonoid government.
2) TeliaSonera should write off its 49 % in Lattelecom as a stranded investment that may yield a few more dividends.
3) TeliaSonera should focus on making LMT a full spectrum, mostly wireless electronic communication service provider, including fixed wireless phones, high speed wireless internet (HSDP, WiMax), wireless cable TV, and wireline broadband (fiber to the home) where possible
*for fuck's sake
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