MTS ready to resume business in Turkmenistan earlier in less than 3-4 mos
MOSCOW. May 21 (Interfax) - OJSC Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) is looking to resume the operations of Barach Communications (BCTI) in Turkmenistan, which MTS controls, in less than three to four months, and reckons to receive a new 5-year license with the possibility of renewal, company Vice President Oleg Raspopov said at a press conference in Moscow.
Earlier, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, the main owner AFK Sistema , which controls MTS, said that three to four months would be needed before operations could resume in Turkmenistan. He said that BTCI had already secured all the Turkmen regulatory licenses needed.
"We will try [to launch BTCI operations] more quickly," Raspopov said.
According to an agreement with Turkmenistan, BTCI will provide its subscribers will all the services provided by the MTS group generally, he said. "As long as we don't do this, as long as we do not prepare this, we'll not launch," he said.
MTS has struck agreement with Turkmenistan on cultivating longer-term relations than had obtained earlier, Raspopov said. The new license will be issued for five years and can be extended, and "that is generally acceptable," he said. The procedure of securing licensing for BTCI is underway, he said.
MTS chief Andrei Dubovskov told the press that new investments in resuming BTCI operations are not planned. "WE will launch using our own funds, those that we have," he said.
Raspopov said that there are sufficient operating funds on the balance sheet of MTS's Turkmen business to resume operations, and the company has not rolled up its network nor has it removed equipment since the previous license was annulled.
MTS had announced the possibility of incurring $585 million in damages from Turkmenistan forbidding it to operate in the republic. As to damages from halting operations, those will not be written off and are not in line for compensation, as the operator will resume its work, MTS Vice President and CFO Alexei Kornya said.
MTS had previously written off the value of some BTCI assets from its international report. This amount to international standards in the report will not be reentered, but will be figured into the operator's Turkmen reporting.
Raspopov was hard-pressed to say how long it would take BTCI to recover its subscriber base. MTS figures that the Turkmen operator will recover all those subscribers that lost services due to BTCI's license being pulled. MTS Vice President for Marketing Vasily Latsanich said MTS is confident that the MTS brand did not suffer from the license's retraction. "We believe virtually nothing will be lost after the activation of the brand," he said.
As reported, Turkmen regulators suspended BTCI's license for one month in December of 2010, but has to this day not reestablished it. BTCI has taken the Turkmen Communications Ministry to court. Raspopov said on Monday that in light of agreement on the resumption of operations the court dispute is expected to be settled with an amicable agreement.
