TeliaSonera's withdrawal not to affect Azercell
By Nigar Orujova
TeliaSonera’s withdrawal from Azerbaijan will not affect the activities of the country's mobile operator Azercell Telecom.
This was said by Ulviyya Hasanzade, Vice President on Corporate Communications of TeliaSonera Eurasia, to Trend on September 17.
Hasanzade said Azercell intends to continue its activity in the Azerbaijani market.
TeliaSonera has issued a message that it plans to reduce its presence in the Eurasian region on September 17.
The message notes that the company as part of its new strategy will focus on activities in Europe, particularly in Sweden, and will reduce its presence in the Eurasian region, including in Nepal, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Tajikistan. Over time, the company plans to leave the Eurasian region completely.
The process of reducing the company's presence in the Eurasian region has already begun, according to TeliaSonera, but at this stage, it is not possible to estimate how long it will take. At the same time, the formation of a new company strategy is well underway.
The company has no potential buyers for its assets in the Eurasian region, Hasanzade said.
“TeliaSonera has begun phasing out its activities in the region, and now it is difficult to speculate on the subject as long as there are no potential buyers,” she said, commenting on the sale of TeliaSonera’s shares of the Azerbaijani mobile operator.
However, according to a statement by the State Authority of Turkey on Public Information, released on September 17, the Turkish mobile operator Turkcell has started working on the acquisition of TeliaSonera’s full 58.55 stake in Fintur Holdings B. V, due to Turkcell’s business expansion in region.
Fintur Holdings B. V owns shares in the company Azercell Telecom. Currently, 100 percent of Azercell shares are owned by the Turkish company Azertel TelekomÜnİkasyon YatIrIm DIş Tİcaret A.ş., which is part of Fintur Holdings B.V.
The Azerbaijani Communications and High Technologies Ministry reported that there as no official request regarding TeliaSonera’s withdrawal from the market.
Earlier, TeliaSonera reported that its revenues in the Azerbaijani market decreased by 1.2 percent in 2014 compared with the previous year. Net sales decreased from 3.824 billion Swedish kronor (SEK) to 3.778 billion SEK in 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.
According to TeliaSonera, the subscriber base of Azercell reached 4,179 million in the first half of 2015, which is 6.2 percent more than the same period in 2014.
There are three major mobile operators functioning in Azerbaijan, and Azercell is the leading mobile company in the country.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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