Yuri Kovalchuk’s National Media Group is planning to leave the telecommunications business and is now looking for a customer willing to buy a 51.8% shareholding in its National Telecommunications Holding, Vedomosti reports.

National Telecommunications owns Moscow’s largest cable operator Mostelecom through National Cable Network, its 100% daughter enterprise. The holding also owns the providers of cable TV and broad-band Internet connection in Moscow Region, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, and Kurgan. All in all, the company renders its services to 4 million TV subscribers and 400,000 broad-band Internet users.

In 2008, National Media Group and partners bought National Telecommunications Holding from Nafta-Moscow for about $1.5bn. The holding could now be sold at the same price or a little bit more expensively, the newspaper says.

According to Vedomosti’s sources, Rostelecom is currently the likeliest customer for the holding.

Both the managers of National Media Group and the General Director of National Telecommunications refused to give any comments.

Now National Telecommunications Holding operates as Tvoye TV in Yekaterinburg.