To date there have been no litigation against the Karimova faction in Norway. The Norwegian government is, however, involved in the Telecommunications Corruption Scandal via VimpelCom, a company owned by Russian/Norwegian interests that has been the subject of various proceedings in the US (Westway Alliance Corp. v. VimpelCom, United States of America v. VimpelCom, United States of America v. Unitel LLC, Securities Exchange Commission v. VimpelCom), and the Netherlands (see: Statement of Facts re. VimpelCom, and Statement of Facts re. ING Bank). VimpelCom is minority owned by Telenor ASA, a company that was, as of 31 December 2021, 53.97% owned by Norway’s government. Økokrim, the Norwegian National Authority for the Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime said in a statement: “As is well known, investigations are underway in several countries in this complex case. VimpelCom is being investigated both in the Netherlands and in the USA. Økokrim has assisted the authorities in the Netherlands and Switzerland in obtaining information from Telenor ASA, as well as assisting with interrogations in Norway”. Ex-VimpelCom executive, Jo Lunder, was also arrested by the Norwegian police on 4 November 2015, but was later released due to lack of evidence.
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