Former MTS executive Dmitry Nagorny has been appointed CEO of Uzbekistan’s Universal Mobile Systems (UMS), the new joint venture between Russian telco MTS and the Uzbek government.
Nagorny was previously head of MTS’ operations in Altai Krai, a…
Former MTS executive Dmitry Nagorny has been appointed CEO of Uzbekistan’s Universal Mobile Systems (UMS), the new joint venture between Russian telco MTS and the Uzbek government.
Nagorny was previously head of MTS’ operations in Altai Krai, a company spokesperson confirmed. He first joined the MTS group in 1998 as a lawyer at its Novosibirsk unit and later became head of the legal department at MTS-Siberia.
MTS, Russia’s largest mobile operator, announced in July that it had signed an agreement with Uzbek authorities to resume operations in the country. The telco said it would have a 50.01% stake in the new JV, while an Uzbek state-owned enterprise managed by the Uzbek State Committee for Communication, Information and Telecommunication Technologies (SCCITT) would own the remaining 49.99% of shares.
Assets, equipment and infrastructure previously owned by MTS’ former Uzbek subsidiary Uzdunrobita, which lost its licence in August 2012 after the government accused it of evading taxes, will be transferred to the JV.
UMS’ commercial launch is set to take place this December.
In it July announcement, MTS also said it had reached an agreement with Uzbek authorities to submit an application to end international arbitrational proceedings.
Uzdunrobita filed for bankruptcy in January 2013 after local courts ordered it to pay US$600m in fines. Liquidation proceedings began in April of the same year. In December, Uzbek authorities transferred Uzdunrobita’s assets to state-owned Uzbektelecom for what an MTS spokesperson described at the time as “safekeeping”.
