KIEV/MOSCOW, June 17./ITAR-TASS/. The service quality of Ukrainian telecom operator Kyivstar, wholly-owned by Amsterdam-based VimpelCom Ltd., has worsened in Crimea, which became part of Russia in March, as local partners do not take the hryvnia as payment, and basic stations are cut from power, Kyivstar said Tuesday.

“This reason is provoking equipment and base stations failures (including junction stations), that has already led to and will be leading to deteriorating connection in Crimea. The number of dead equipment is gradually rising,” Kyivstar said.

“The circumstances could not be eliminated by the company’s own efforts. However, we are doing our best to maintain the high quality coverage on our part and apologizing to subscribers for the inconveniences.”

VimpelCom Ltd. is also the sole owner of major Russian mobile operator VimpelCom.

“We are not responsible for the connection quality of our roaming partners. All the questions should be addressed to Kyivstar. We hope our subscribers will not be affected by this issue,” VimpelCom’s spokeswoman Anna Aibasheva said.

VimpelCom said earlier that it will cancel international roaming in Crimea starting from Friday.

VimpelCom Ltd.’s major owner is Altimo, managing telecommunication assets of Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa-Group, owning 47.85%, and Norwegian telecommunication company Telenor with 42.95%.