Creditors call for MTS liquidation

Creditors of MTS Uzbekistan has requested for the court to recognise the cellco’s bankruptcy and called for its liquidation RIA Novosti reports, citing a source close to the company. The Tashkent Commercial Court is due to hold a hearing on the company’s bankruptcy proceedings on 11 March. The cellco filed for bankruptcy in January 2013, claiming that it could not pay fines and penalties totalling USD600 million. As noted by TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the Russian-backed cellco was accused of ‘numerous and systematic violations’ in June 2012, and shortly afterwards the company’s licences were suspended. In August, the company was stripped of its assets, fuelling suspicions that the alleged infractions were fabricated as part of a state-backed shakedown. Three months later, however, the decision to nationalise the operator was reversed, and MTS was instead handed a USD600 million fine.