The South African mobile phone group MTN said on Sunday that it was still committed to negotiating the sale of its 75% stake in its Syrian unit for $ 65 million, despite the activity being subjected to judicial custody last week.
A court in Damascus had placed MTN Syria under guard on charges that MTN had violated the terms of the licensing contract, which the state said deprived the government of revenue.
The group denies the accusations and said on Friday it intends to appeal the ruling.
The appointed guard, who is the head of Telinvest which owns a minority stake in MTN Syria, will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the unit as long as the custody order remains in effect. The court’s statement did not specify how long it would be effective.
Telinvest is seeking to buy MTN Group’s 75% stake in MTN Syria at a previously undisclosed price.
A spokeswoman for the South African company told Reuters, “MTN Group remains committed to implementing the deal agreed upon with Telinvest to divest from its 75% stake and loans for a total of $ 65 million.”
The sale to TeleInvest is part of MTN’s plans to exit the Middle East in the medium term.
The group’s operations in the region have been marred by allegations of paying a bribe to obtain a 15-year operating license in Iran and aiding militant groups in Afghanistan. MTN denies the allegations.
MTN Syria contributed 0.7% of the group’s core profits in the first six months of last year.
“Tele Invest Limited” is one of the largest shareholders in MTN and owns a 25% stake in it, and naming it as a judicial guard over the parent company MTN, came after direct intervention, or what a source describes as a “hidden movement” from Assad’s wife, Asma, who She previously appointed her relative, Nasreen Ibrahim, as a representative of “Tele Invest Limited” within MTN.
It is noteworthy that the Syrian regime, two days before the verdict was issued to impose judicial custody on MTN, to appoint a replacement from Nasreen Ibrahim, who “completed her mission to the fullest” for the Syrian regime, according to a source for Al-Arabiya.net. In the emergency, from MTN company, appointing Mohamed Hamdoun, a substitute for Nasreen Ibrahim, as a representative of “Tele Invest Limited”.
And Nasreen Ibrahim is the sister of Yasar Ibrahim, a newly emerging businessman, in the environment of the Syrian regime, and he was subject to US sanctions, months ago. Nisreen was known to be close to Asma, the wife of al-Assad, and she was appointed as a representative of Tele Invest Limited, shortly after al-Assad’s takeover, of the largest cellular communications company in the country, Syriatel, owned by his cousin, Rami Makhlouf, with the appointment of a judicial guard over it, in June. / Last June.
– .
