Pakistan’s government said it expects the UAE’s Etisalat to shell out as much as US$800 million by the end of the first quarter 2010, to cover withheld payments related to a dispute over its 2006 purchase of a 26 per cent stake in Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation (PTCL). The dispute is reported to be over the ownership of several properties in Pakistan that were part of the deal.
According to the terms of the agreement, Etisalat was due to pay US$1.4 billion within one month after the signing of the deal and the remaining amount of US$1.2 billion was to be paid in equal instalments over four and a half years, with one instalment due every six months. It has been reported that around US$1 billion of those payments are now up to a year overdue.
“We expect the money in our exchequer by the end of March,” Waqar Ahmed Khan, Pakistan’s minister of privatisation, said in Dubai.
PTCL’s mobile subsidiary, Ufone ended Q3 2009 with around 19.1 million subscribers, representing a market share of around 20 per cent. It is believed Etisalat plans to expand Ufone’s presence into rural areas and to bid for an upcoming 3G licence.
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