FEB. 5 2021 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan wants to attract investments of $2.5b to upgrade its telecoms sector, media reported by quoting PM Abdula Aripov. The plan is part of Uzbekistan’s general investment strategy and will attract interest. Uzbekistan is Central Asia’s most populous country, with a population of 33m.
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— This story was first published in issue 471 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin
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FEB. 4 2021 (The Bulletin) — Police in Kyrgyzstan arrested Yevgeny Krazhan, the former head of Sky Mobile telecoms, which trades under the Beeline brand, for alleged corruption. The Beeline brand belongs to New York-listed Veon. Corruption is rife in Kyrgyzstan and media reported that the arrest of Mr Krazhan, a Ukrainian, is linked to an investigation into corruption by officials in the state communications agency.
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— This story was first published in issue 471 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
FEB. 4 2021 (The Bulletin) — A court in Stockholm upheld the acquittal of three former executives of telecoms company TeliaSonera, now called Telia, who had been charged with paying bribes to Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of former Uzbek leader Islam Karimov. The three men, including former TeliaSonera CEO Lars Nyberg, went on trial in 2018 and were acquitted in 2019 because it could not be proved that Ms Karimova held any official position in the Uzbek telecoms sector. Ms Karimova has been under house arrest or in prison in Tashkent since 2014. In 2017, Telia paid more than $1b in fines for the bribes, the largest ever corporate corruption fine.
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— This story was first published in issue 471 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
JULY 30 (The Bulletin) — Kcell, Kazakhstan’s biggest mobile operator, said that sales increased by 7.7% in the first six months of the year, compared to the same time last year, despite the coronavirus pandemic.. It also said that net income was up by 17.8%. Results from Kcell, which is owned by the state-owned Kazakhtelecom, are watched as they are considered important indicators on the health of the Kazakh economy.
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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020
JULY 30 (The Bulletin) — Armenia’s Commission for the Regulation of Public Services has approved the takeover of Veon’s Armenian subsidiary by Team, a new telecoms operator, media reported. Team, which was only set up in April, said earlier in July that it had been given permission to buy Veon Armenia, which operates the valuable Beeline brand in the country. Ucom, another telecoms operator, has said that it will challenge the deal.
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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020
DEC. 4 (The Bulletin) — Swedish telecoms company Ericsson signed a deal with Azercell, Azerbaijan’s biggest mobile operator, to develop 5G technology, media reported. A press release from Ericsson said that this deal was the direct result of a test process and that a 5G network will be rolled out across Azerbaijan in 2020-22.
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— This story was first published in issue 431 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 9 2019
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DEC. 3 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s NEQSOL Holding, which owns the Bakcell mobile operator, said that it had completed the purchase of Vodafone Ukraine. It also said that finance for the purchase had been provided by JP Morgan and Raiffeisen Bank. Bakcell has also said that the change of ownership at Vodafone Ukraine, won’t affect its operations.
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— This story was first published in issue 431 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 9 2019
Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin
BAKU/NOV. 25 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijani telecoms operator Bakcell finalised a deal to buy Vodafone Ukraine from Russia’s MTS Group for $734m, its first major overseas purchase.
Yusif Jabbarov, Bakcell CEO, said that the purchase of Vodafone Ukraine was only the first of a series of foreign purchases that the company was planning.
“With the acquisition of Vodafone Ukraine, the second telecommunications operator in the Ukrainian market, we continue the strategy of expanding the international presence and entering the new markets by the companies belonging to the NEQSOL Holding group,” he said.
NEQSOL Holding group is a conglomeration owned by Hasib Hasanov, an Azerbaijani businessman reportedly close to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. It also owns Nobel Oil which wins contracts from the Azerbaijani government in the Caspian Sea.
MTS had owned Vodafone Ukraine, which has no links to the British company, through its Dutch subsidiary Preludium but with a deadlock in the east of Ukraine in a war between government forces and Russia-backed rebels it had become harder for Russian companies to own businesses in Ukraine.
Analysts said the $734m price tag for Bakcell was a discounted price.
MTS has also said that its new strategy is focused on building growth inside Russia. It sold its businesses in Turkmenistan in 2017 and in Uzbekistan in 2016 although it still owns telecoms companies in Belarus and Armenia.
Last year, profits at Vodafone Ukraine fell 18% to 1.8b hryvnia ($72.5m) because of the cost of building new 4G networks.
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— This story was first published in issue 430 of the weekly Bulletin.
NOV. 25 (The Bulletin) — Hoping for high valuations, Kazakhstan will delay by a year plans to sell off stakes in Air Astana, Kazakhtelecom and energy company Kazmunaigas, media reported by quoting Kazakh finance minister Alikhan Smailov. Stakes in nuclear company Kazatomprom were sold off last year on the London Stock Exchange but the IPOs of other companies have been delayed several times.
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— This story was first published in issue 430 of the weekly Bulletin.
NOV. 19 (The Bulletin) — Construction has started on a fibre-optical line running across the Caspian Sea between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan’s government-linked Astana Times reported. The project will, officials said, improve communication between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
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— This story was first published in issue 430 of the weekly Bulletin.