Tele2 is waiting with controversial purchase – Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet

Tele2 is waiting with controversial purchase – Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet

The owner of Tele2′s partners where designated generally as manager of the presidential family assets.

Tele2 owns 51 percent of their operator in the former Soviet state since 2010, and now has four months ahead contractual right to buy the remaining share from the partner Asianet.

– Right now we have no plans to exercise the option, says however Niklas Sonkin, Tele2′s head of business area Eurasia.

According to him, Tele2 pleased with the partnership and points out that Asianet nor has chosen to sell to Tele2, an option partner has had since 2011 and has no end date.

Asianet consists of a complex structure of companies in tax havens and owned by Ajgul Nurijeva. According stubborn tasks she manages assets on behalf of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s family.

Nurijeva also did business in 2013 with Tele2′s competitor in Kazakhstan TeliaSonera – which got Telia’s meeting this spring to grant the former CEO Lars Nyberg discharge . Experts pointed out at the same time TT risk that Tele2, if you buy this Asianet, would fatten the political elite. The latest valuation of Asianets share amounts to $ 100 million.

Kazakhstan is down in place 126 on corruption watchdog Transparency International’s global list, and owner of Tele2 has been reported to be worried. Niklas Sonkin argue, however, that the company has carefully investigated Nurijeva and found nothing suspicious. That it is now delaying the purchase is not due to the risk that the company would commit crimes, he said.

– It is not corruption-related.

He would not say What other reasons are to refrain from becoming the sole owner of one of the company’s most promising markets.

The head of the National Anti-Corruption Unit, Gunnar Stetler, who is investigating Telia’s business in Uzbekistan, would not comment specifically about Tele2 ‘s business, but makes a general statement:

– I assume that Swedish companies, especially when they do business in countries far down on the Transparency International list, thinking that the law was changed in 2012. Nowadays, bribery in the form of reckless finance bribe also be committed by negligence.

This means that the requirements has increased significantly on companies to find out who the beneficiaries of a transaction.

Lars Söderfjell, an analyst at the Bank of Åland, see that there are business reasons to Tele2′s reasoning.

– In an investment can be a pretty good idea to have someone else sharing the construction costs. And they are not yet at a level where there is a good profitability.