MTN Group will vigorously defend the Turkcell lawsuit, the Turkish operator‘s fifth claim arising from the unsuccessful bid to obtain a mobile licence in Iran.
In a statement, MTN said the latest attempt by Turkcell was issued out of the South Gauteng High Court this week. Like the four previous cases, this matter emanates from Turkcell’s alleged grievances arising from its unsuccessful bid to obtain a mobile licence in Iran, and the award of that licence to Irancell.
While the summons has not yet been served on it, MTN understands that the claim is now made against MTN, its wholly owned subsidiary, MTN International (Mauritius) Limited (MTNI) and others, in which Turkcell claims an amount of some US$4.2 billion, plus interest and legal costs
By way of background, three of the suits brought by Turkcell and its subsidiary, East Asian Consortium (EAC) have already been dismissed, including one against MTN and MTNI.
In late 2005, EAC was unsuccessful in its bid before the Iranian Court to restrain the Iranian Ministry of Telecommunications from committing what the EAC alleged were breaches of certain statutory requirements and agreements. This was followed by arbitration in 2008 against the Iran government under the Turkey-Iran Bilateral Investment Treaty, which has not yet been decided.
Also in 2008, EAC commenced an arbitration under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) against Iran Electronic Development Company for alleged breach of a shareholder’s agreement concluded between the parties in 2004. The ICC Tribunal dismissed Turkcell’s claims in a final award in April 2012.
Turkcell filed a suit against MTN in the USA in March 2012, accusing the company of bribery and other acts of corruption that it said caused it to lose out on the license to operate a mobile network in Iran.
