Reuters reports that Orascom Telecom’s (OT) chairman Naguib Sawiris yesterday expressed doubt that Russia’s Vimpelcom would succeed in talks over a dispute with the Algerian government over OT’s Djezzy unit. The long-running dispute over Djezzy, OT’s biggest single source of revenue, has complicated a US$6 billion-plus deal for Vimpelcom to take control of OT and its parent, Wind Telecom. Vimpelcom’s shareholders last month approved the takeover, which is expected to close by May. “I do not think Vimpelcom will succeed in negotiations in Algeria,” Sawiris said at a shareholders meeting on Thursday.