Page 55 - BNE_magazine_04_2019

bne April 2019 Eurasia I 55
understand these limitations and are pursuing their own specific agendas. President Aliyev imitates a constructive stance so to cast the inevitable failure of the peace process on Armenia and prepare for a new offensive in Kara- bakh. Meanwhile, Pashinian is also playing the imitation game and trying to win time for the rearmament and modernization of the Armenian armed forces. When it comes down to it, pros- pects for lasting peace deal were far brighter in late 1990s and early 2000s when the level of hostility was much lower and the conflicting armies were not so heavily armed.
connection with the agreements, MTS will pay the aggregate amount of USD 850 million. This amount was reserved as announced with the Company’s
Q3 2018 results,” the company said in a statement.
Alexey Kornya, MTS’ president and CEO, added: “Obtaining a resolution
of the Uzbek investigations was in the Company’s best interests. The resolution and settlement allow MTS to focus
fully on the implementation of MTS’ business strategy to be a first-in-class digital telecom company. MTS’ balance sheet remains strong and the current ratio of the Company's debt to OIBDA remains well below most of our Russian and international peers. We remain committed to investing in business development consistent with our planned capital expenditures while providing attractive shareholder returns.”
The DOJ was explicit about the role that Karimova played in the corruption schemes.
“In addition, charges were unsealed today against a former Uzbek official who is the daughter of the former president of Uzbekistan and against the former CEO of Uzdunrobita LLC, another MTS subsidiary, for their participation in a bribery and money laundering scheme involving more than $865mn in bribes from MTS, VimpelCom Limited (now VEON) and Telia Company AB (Telia) to
The imitation game that masks the region’s strategic realities lead to the unavoidable conclusion that renewed conflict, and not peace, is the most likely outcome. In some sense, the false sensa- tion of forward progress engendered by the peace talks may only contribute to a more rapid destabilization in the future. High level talks make for good head- lines, but do little to change strategic conditions until certain mechanisms are established to institutionalize the peace process. The cease-fire regime should not depend on the whims or goodwill of the parties to the conflict. In an environ- ment where war still continues to be a
the former Uzbek official in order to secure her assistance in entering and maintaining their business operations in Uzbekistan’s telecommunications market,” the DOJ said in its statement.
Original company Uzdunrobita Karimova took over the original tele- coms company Uzdunrobita in 2004, that was set up by US investors and launched Uzbekistan’s first mobile phone service in the 90s. MTS then entered the market by buying a stake in the company.
MTS suffered from a running battle with the Uzbek authorities in the noughties, which threatened to pull its licences several times. On each occasion the share of profits that MTS had to share with its state-owned partners was increased until finally in 2012 the company was seized by the government.
popular option and is used as part of a blackmail tactics, compromise and real peace still seems like a long shot.
Tigran Grigorian is an EDSN fellow
and a political analyst from Nagorno- Karabakh, where he is a founder and leader of the opposition National Revival Party. EDSN is an international research fellowship project of the Center of Social Sciences, Tbilisi, and made possible with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy.
Separately, reports coming out of Tashkent claim that Karimova was forcibly transferred from her apartment where she has been under house arrest for several years and put in prison. Uzbekistan’s general prosecutor said in a statement that Karimova had violated the terms of house arrest, leaving her daughter’s apartment and using the internet without permission, and was being transferred to prison in Tashkent.
Briefly considered as a possible successor, Karimova was arrested and disappeared from public sight in the succession power struggle after her father suffered from a stroke in 2014.
Two other telecoms companies have come a cropper in Uzbekistan. The Russian mobile major Vimpelcom, that operates under the Beeline brand in Russia, also agreed to pay $795mn
“MTS suffered from a running battle with the Uzbek authorities in the noughties, which threatened to pull its licences several times”
MTS finally quit the market complete in 2016 by selling its 50% stake in the Universal Mobile Systems (UMS) to its local joint venture partner, the State Unitary Enterprise Centre of Radio Communication, which is part of Uzbekistan’s Information Technologies Ministry, in August 2016.
settlement for bribery to US and Dutch authorities in 2016. The following year, Scandinavian telecom company TeliaSonera also settled a corruption case, also with US and Dutch regulators.
www.bne.eu