REUTERS SUMMIT-Vimpelcom Russia expects to ride out weak economy

(For other news from Reuters Russia Investment Summit, click on http://www.reuters.com/summit/Russia14)

* Mobile customers will keep spending, says CEO

* Turnaround plans remain unchanged

By Maria Kiselyova and Anastasia Teterevleva

MOSCOW, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Global telecoms group Vimpelcom (NasdaqGS: VIP - news) 's Russian business expects resilient consumer spending on mobile services to shield the sector from the country's economic downturn, its top executive told Reuters.

Russian industries from oil to autos are feeling the effects of the weak economy and the impact of Western sanctions over Ukraine, but Mikhail Slobodin is confident that consumers will not give up their phones and that corporate use could increase as cost-conscious companies hold more virtual meetings.

"Telecoms (sector), with a very high probability, will always have cash," Slobodin, head of Vimpelcom's Russian business, said in an interview at the Reuters Russia Investment Summit.

"The current level of spending on mobile services is not a ceiling of payment capacity; people will keep talking and, moreover, demand will grow anyway, primarily for data because it allows (clients) to earn and save in other areas."

Slobodin added that his company, Russia's No.3 mobile phone operator by market share, had not found it necessary to adjust its strategy because of changes in the economic environment and is pushing ahead with plans aimed at reversing subscriber outflows and sales declines.

Vimpelcom, majority-owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group and Norway's Telenor (Other OTC: TELNF - news) , has been struggling to turn around its Russian operations since losing the No.2 spot to Megafon in 2010, having under-invested at home while pursuing global expansion.

It named Slobodin, with a background in the oil and power sectors, as its new Russian chief a year ago.

Since then, Vimpelcom has been focusing on improving its network and customer service. It said in August that tentative improvements seen in the second quarter this year had yet to form a trend.

Vimpelcom's second-quarter mobile service revenue in Russia fell 5 percent year on year while mobile data revenue rose 17 percent. The number of users increased by 1.3 million from the first quarter but was still down 1 percent on the same period a year earlier.

"Based on three or four months' statistics, it's too early to draw a final conclusion that we are now sure of our ground," Slobodin said at the summit, held at the Reuters office in Moscow.

"After the first half-year, and especially the second quarter, we see first positive signals," he said, adding that the company should be able to draw conclusions about the sustainability of business recovery at the end of the year.

Slobodin added that the company is responding to a weaker rouble by revising contracts with equipment suppliers and is not suffering major exchange-rate impact.

"When growth falls in the market overall and everybody anticipates a cool down, negotiations about the costs with all partners become much more constructive," he said.

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For more summit stories, see (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Anastasia Teterevleva Editing by Elizabeth Piper and David Goodman)