* Hires former Verizon Wireless CFO Andrew Davies
* Moving to Nasdaq after nearly two decades on NYSE
* Confirms interest in acquiring assets in Pakistan
By Maria Kiselyova
MOSCOW, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Russia's third-largest mobileoperator Vimpelcom has hired the former finance chief ofthe biggest U.S. mobile provider Verizon Wireless, as it strivesto cut its $23 billion debt.
Vimpelcom, which has significant operations in Italy and several emerging markets, also said on Wednesday it was movingits shares to U.S. technology market Nasdaq afternearly two decades trading on rival NYSE Euronext, tocut costs.
The appointment of Andrew Davies as chief financial officer(CFO) could help Amsterdam-based Vimpelcom cut debt, while itexits some emerging markets and refocuses on its core operationsin Russia and Italy, analysts said.
Davies worked at Vodafone's Turkish, Japanese andU.K. businesses before joining Verizon Wireless - a jointventure between the British company and U.S.-based VerizonCommunications - in 2010.
He left the CFO role at Verizon Wireless in June to becomeVodafone's financial representative at the joint venture.
Analysts linked Davies' appointment to Vimpelcom's recentmove to set up an in-house bank aimed to help manage the group's$23 billion net debt that resulted from a more than $6 billionacquisition of Egypt's Orascom Telecom and Italy'sWind in 2010.
"This structure demands a very experienced, high-level CFOat the group level and thus Vimpelcom is well positioned toattract the best talent out there," said Tibor Bokor at Wood&Co.
Alexander Vengranovich, analyst at Otkritie brokerage, said some Vimpelcom investors were concerned outgoing CFO Henk vanDalen had moved too slowly to ease the debt burden.
Vimpelcom said Davies will take up his post by January 2014.
Vimpelcom vies for customers in Russia and investors seekingexposure to that telecoms market with London-listed rivalMegafon and New York-listed MTS.
Russian companies tend to list their stock abroad to attractmore shareholders as the Moscow market is relatively small andunpopular with foreign investors.
Some investors have favoured Megafon and MTS due to Vimpelcom's lagging performance in Russia and a long disputebetween its two biggest shareholders Altimo, the telecoms arm ofRussian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Alfa-Group, and Norwegiantelecoms group Telenor, which was resolved last year.
Vimpelcom is the smallest of Russia's big three mobileoperators with 24 percent of subscribers compared with MTS's 31percent market share and Megafon's 27 percent, according tomarket research group AC&M.
It lost the number two spot to Megafon in 2010 whileexpanding abroad.
Vimpelcom has focused on improving its market share inRussia, which accounted for two-fifths of its revenue last year,by cutting costs and boosting network quality.
Vimpelcom's shares were up 5 percent by 1720 GMT,outperforming MTS which was trading 0.2 percent higer.
LISTING SWITCH
Vimpelcom, which listed its shares on the New York StockExchange in 1996, said on Wednesday it was moving to rivalNasdaq to be included into several technology indexesand to save costs.
"There are many TMT (technology, media and telecoms)companies present on Nasdaq ... and we think it is a naturalstep for Vimpelcom to be included into that very strong group ofcompanies," Vimpelcom Chief Executive Jo Lunder said in atelephone interview.
NYSE and Nasdaq compete fiercely for company listings,although Russian companies which join overseas stock exchangestend to favour the London Stock Exchange, which iscloser.
Vimpelcom will join other Russian technology-focusedcompanies on Nasdaq such as search engine Yandex andexpects to begin trading on Sept. 10.
The move will be a loss for the NYSE, which boasts a handfulof Russian names such as MTS, steel and coal miner Mechel and U.S.-based IT firm Epam Systems Inc.
Vimeplcom, which last month agreed to sell two of itsAfrican businesses is considering buying Warid Telecom inPakistan, where it already operates under the brand Mobilink.
"Pakistan is clearly a core market that we have a long-termambition in," Lunder said.
Vodafone (VOD)
