Algeria will pay $6.5 billion to acquire a controlling stake in Vimpelcom's Algerian mobile phone unit, a top finance ministry source said on Wednesday, potentially ending a dispute that has dragged for over a year.

"The deal is that Algeria will pay $6.5 billion to acquire 51 percent of Djezzy," a senior source familiar with the telecommunications file at the finance ministry told Reuters.

Russia-focused Vimpelcom acquired Djezzy last year as part of a $6 billion deal to buy the assets of Egyptian firm Orascom Telecom, but the transaction immediately became clouded in uncertainty after the Algerian government said it wanted a majority stake in the unit. - Reuters