US authorities wade into TeliaSonera Uzbekistan probe

TeliaSonera has announced that it has received notice from the US Department of Justice (DOJ), informing it that the American authority has opened an investigation into the Swedish group’s transactions in Uzbekistan. As part of the probe, TeliaSonera has received requests for documents relating to Uzbekistan from DOJ and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). TeliaSonera also revealed that Dutch authorities have requested collateral of between EUR10 million and EUR20 million (USD13.9 million and USD27.8 million) for any financial claims which may be decided against the firm’s Netherlands-based holding companies. As previously noted by CommsUpdate, the offices of holding companies UTA Holding and TeliaSonera Uzbek Telecom Holding were inspected by Dutch authorities last week in relation to allegations of bribery and money laundering. TeliaSonera’s head of group communications Peter Borsos explained: ‘The common denominator for our contacts with the authorities is that we are asked for information about TeliaSonera’s investments in Uzbekistan and documents related to these. TeliaSonera cooperates fully with all the authorities, as we are doing with the Swedish prosecutor, in order to gain full clarity on these issues.’