Updated on
Summary Uzbekistan ordered seizure of all property of a subsidiary of Russian mobile phone operator MTS.
This step has been taken due to latest move in a tax dispute, the company said.The Tashkent justice department followed an order from the Prosecutor Generals Office and issued a warrant to seize all the property of the Russian companys local subsidiary Uzdunrobita, MTS said in a statement.MTS said that it believed the move was an attempt to strip what was Uzbekistans largest mobile operator of its assets.It clearly shows the biased nature of the prosecution and the aim of the Uzbek authorities to carry out a illegal seizure of MTSs business in the shortest possible time, the company said.Uzbekistan has hit the subsidiary with a massive tax claim and earlier this month a court cancelled all its operating licences, saying it had been operating illegally and evading taxes.The companys appeal against the loss of its licences was later rejected.Four of the subsidarys managers went on trial this week charged with a range of financial crimes including tax evasion.The Prosecutor Generals Office said this month that investigators believed the top managers took part in illegal economic schemes, aimed at laundering criminal gains and receiving uncontrolled profit.Earlier this month Uzbekistan released the imprisoned general director, a Russian citizen, after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov phoned his Uzbek counterpart calling for the situation to be resolved.MTS said its four detained managers had been questioned without lawyers present and that according to our information, some of the testimony of the Uzdunrobita staff was received under pressure from investigative bodies.Uzdunrobita was established in 1991, and in 2004 became part of the Russian Mobile Telesystems (MTS) with 9.5 million subscribers by the end of last year.
