MOSCOW—Belarussian red tape is delaying the launch of the second GSM network by the biggest Russian carrier MTS scheduled for 17 April, and now everything depends on President Alexander Lukashenko.
So far, MTS has not received the license it won at a tender last year. According to the tender terms, MTS had to create a joint venture with the Belarussian state-run company Mezhdugorodnaya svyaz, which will hold a 51-percent stake and will dictate prices.
The registration of the MTS joint venture was planned for late 2001. However, it has not taken place so far, although the necessary documents had been finalized and agreed upon with all the necessary ministries in February.
However, according to Belarussian laws, if a contribution of a state-owned company into a joint venture exceeds a certain fixed amount, the permission is to be provided personally by the president. Mezhdugorodnaya svyaz has to contribute US$2.55 million in kind, and the figure exceeds the limit.
“As the contribution of the Belarussian side into the project exceeds 10,000 minimal wages, the law demands the approval of the president of the country to contribute the funds to the authorized capital of the joint venture,” Belarussian Deputy Communications Minister Vladimir Karpovich said.
MTS Vice President for Investments Alexei Buyanov admitted that the launch of the network would most likely be postponed.
“We have no official answer from the Belarussian side about the reasons for the delay. We do not understand what is happening. If the permission is not granted next week, there will be a reason for serious talks about the postponement of the network launch,” he said.
However, MTS hopes the problem will be resolved in the end.
“We encountered a usual bureaucratic delay. MTS is fulfilling its commitments in full. The Belarussian project remains a strategic one for us,” MTS spokesman Kirill Maslenitsyn said.
“The Belarussian government hardly needs a scandal with a major Russian company,” the Kommersant newspaper commented.
