AUG. 13 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Uzbekistan has cancelled all licences held by the Russian mobile operator MTS, which operates under the local brand Uzdunrobita, media reported. Uzbek officials had previously slapped temporary bans on MTS for alleged tax dodging the breaking its contract. MTS denies the allegations.
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(News report from Issue No. 101, published on Aug. 17 2012)
AUG. 8 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Uzbek subsidiary of Russian mobile operator MTS, Uzdunrobita, is facing fines of $80m for violating various regulations, the AP news agency quoted the company as saying. The Uzbek authorities suspended Uzdunrobita last month after accusing it of avoiding taxes. Uzdunrobita, which had nearly 10m subscribers, denies the charges.
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(News report from Issue No. 100, published on Aug. 10 2012)
JULY 30 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The fortunes of MTS, the Russian mobile operator, in Central Asia have been fluctuating wildly.
On July 26, Turkmen officials reinstated its licence, after a 19 month break. Meanwhile in neighbouring Uzbekistan, officials said they would lengthen the suspension of MTS’s mobile operator licence to 90 days (from an original 10 day suspension from July 17) while it investigates allegations of tax evasion. MTS has denied the allegations and accused Uzbekistan of trying to grab assets.
As a correspondent reports for The Conway Bulletin in the accompanying Correspondents’ Notebook, thousands of Uzbeks have queued through the heat to exchange SIM cards at MTS’s rivals.
MTS has played a patient game in Turkmenistan, where it had held an 85% market share, and got what it wanted — its licence back. Now it has to play another game in Uzbekistan.
The fallout for MTS and Uzbekistan has only just started but it’s likely to be costly for both sides. German car maker Daimler has just pulled out of a proposed joint-venture in Uzbekistan. The timing of its withdrawal could, of course, be a coincidental.
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(News report from Issue No. 099, published on Aug. 3 2012)
AUG. 2 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s lower house of parliament passed a decree that will prevent it from either joining any military alliance in the future or hosting any foreign military bases. Media had speculated that the US may be looking to open a base on Uzbek territory after Uzbekistan withdrew from the Russia-lead CSTO military alliance earlier this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 099, published on Aug. 3 2012)
AUG. 2 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Germany’s Daimler has pulled out of proposed bus making joint-venture with Uzbek state company Uzavtosanoat, media reported. A Daimler spokesperson cited tough economic conditions as the reason for pulling out of the deal although the environment for foreign investors in Uzbekistan has also become increasingly difficult.
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(News report from Issue No. 099, published on Aug. 3 2012)
JULY 25/26 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia’s government stepped into the row between Uzbekistan and Russian mobile operator MTS. It sent a formal note to the Uzbek government noting its concern over the arrest of a handful of MTS executives for tax evasion. In Turkmenistan, MTS said it had resumed operations after being thrown out in Dec. 2010.
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(News report from Issue No. 098, published on July 27 2012)
JULY 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – One Kyrgyz border guard died in a shootout with Uzbek soldiers, media reported. The shootout, which occurred in a loosely demarcated border area in southern Kyrgyzstan, underlines both the fragility of peace in the region and the mistrust between the Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.
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(News report from Issue No. 097, published on July 20 2012)
JULY 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Uzbekistan formally accused Russian mobile provider MTS of violating the terms of its contract and suspended its operating licence for 10 days.
MTS, which is listed on New York’s stock exchange and operates under the Uzdunrobita brand, denies any wrong-doing and has accused the Uzbek government of trying to steal the company.
The case against MTS appears to boil down to not paying enough taxes. Earlier this month, police in Tashkent arrested a handful of senior Uzdunrobita executives, although the Uzdunrobita CEO had already fled to Moscow, and accused them of tax evasion.
Uzdunrobita is small-fry for MTS. It may have 9.5m subscribers in Uzbekistan but its revenues account for just 3.5% of MTS’s total turnover.
For both sides the row, which has been played since the end of June, is negative publicity.
This is the second time in 18 months that MTS has lost an operating licence in Central Asia. Last January, the Turkmen authorities scrapped a licence and although it has manoeuvred itself into a position to resume operations, MTS is still currently frozen out of Turkmenistan.
Either MTS has become careless or it’s being bullied. For Uzbekistan, whether it has a strong case or not, the row worsens its already tarnished business image.
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(News report from Issue No. 097, published on July 20 2012)
JULY 10 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian mobile operator MTS temporarily shut down some of its operations in Uzbekistan after the authorities accused it of tax evasion, media reported. MTS, which has 9m subscribers in Uzbekistan, says the accusations are untrue and that the authorities are trying to pressure it into relinquishing control of the company.
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(News report from Issue No. 096, published on July 13 2012)
JUNE 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan re-introduced Soviet-style exit visas for its nationals travelling to Turkmenistan and Tajikistan from June 1, the US-funded RFE/RL reported. Uzbekistan has earned a growing reputation as an isolationist and has had strained relations with both Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 095, published on July 6 2012)
