Finnish minister of communications Matti Aura resigned following the dismissal of Pekka Vennamo, chief executive of Sonera. Vennamo was fired by the Sonera board on 4 January for failing to disclose the sale of 5,300 Sonera shares to members of his family.
Sonera’s initial public offering last November released 158 million shares (22.2 percent) and raised some US$1.4 billion. The offer was 20 times oversubscribed and was strongly criticized in the media.
Most investors only received a tenth of their share application, while Sonera executives received their allocations in full. Vennamo acquired some 51,000 shares, worth around US$800,000, and apparently had undertaken not to dispose of any part of his holding.
Minister Aura stated that Vennamo had repeatedly given misleading information about his share dealings. Aura admitted he had misjudged Vennamo and therefore felt unable to continue as a minister.
In November, scandal struck the Brazilian telecom industry when Communications Minister Luis Carlos Mendonca de Barros, president of Brazil’s National Development Bank Andre Lara Resende, and another top official resigned amid allegations they tried to manipulate the sale of state-run Telebras last year.
The scandal broke 9 November when several magazines published transcripts of illegally taped telephone conversations between Mendonca de Barros and Resende during which the two appeared to be trying to influence the sale in favor of a consortium that included former Central Bank head Persio Arida and former privatization director Elena Landau, according to a Reuters report. However, neither won a stake in the auction.
