TeliaSonera is to increase the focus on its Regions Europe and Sweden operations. At the same time, it has decided to reduce its presence in the Region Eurasia operation and over time leave the region.
Local reports in Turkey indicate that Turkcell, the country’s largest mobile operator and in which TeliaSonera holds a 38% stake, has already expressed an interest in acquiring some of TeliaSonera’s Eurasian assets, which are located in Nepal, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Tajikistan.
Commenting on the change in strategy, Johan Dennelind.TeliaSonera’s president and CEO, said: “Thanks to two years of hard work to improve the Eurasian operations, not least from a corporate governance and sustainability perspective, we now have better and more well-managed companies which we believe others can successfully develop further.
“We realise that this will be a complex task that will take time. We are conducting this process market by market as each country and operation has its unique situation, but the ambition is to eventually leave the entire region.
Marie Ehrling, TeliaSonera’s chair of the board, added: “The board of directors has thoroughly examined what is best for our shareholders, operations, employees and customers. We have initiated a process to reduce TeliaSonera’s presence in Region Eurasia in order to effectively execute on our strategy. It is very positive that TeliaSonera’s focused work to improve sustainability has enabled the next step in the reshaping of TeliaSonera”.
