(Adds details about ownership, background to dispute)
MOSCOW, April 18 (Reuters) - Russian telecoms operator Vimpelcom said it sold 51 percent of its Algerian affiliate to the country's government, resolving an ownership dispute in a transaction that allows it to retain control of the business.
Algeria had pushed to nationalise Orascom Telecom Algeria, hitting the business with back tax claims and foreign exchange and import restrictions.
Vimpelcom said on Friday that the Algerian National Investment Fund had now bought 51 percent of the business - known as Djezzy - for $2.6 billion from the Russian firm's 51.9 percent-owned unit Global Telecom Holding (GTH).
Vimpelcom said GTH would continue to exercise operational control over Djezzy.
Vimpelcom took over Djezzy as part of a $6 billion deal agreed in 2010 to buy assets from Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris to help Vimpelcom diversify outside Russia.
Vimpelcom will use the proceeds from the deal to pay down part of the debt it accumulated when buying GTH, previously known as Orascom Telecom Holding, from Sawiris.
The deal is expected to close by the end of 2014.
(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Megan Davies; Editing by Alessandra Prentice, John Stonestreet)