Turkcell operating ‘surely’ amid partner dispute: CEO

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

The Turkcell CEO talks about a board dispute in an Anadolu agency interview. AA photo

Turkcell CEO Süreyya Ciliv said the operations of the mobile operator were going smoothly despite the ongoing dispute in the mobile operator’s board.

“I can say that our business is not affected by the deadlock between the company partners. We continue to do what we have done,” he said, during an interview at Anadolu agency’s Finance Desk.

The Turkish mobile phone company Turkcell has failed to hold an annual general meeting for the sixth time due to a long-running dispute between three major shareholders.

The dispute between Turkey’s Çukurova and Russia’s Altimo Group prevented the approval of accounts and distribution of dividends.

Çukurova is also in a dispute with the third and largest stakeholder of the company, Nordic telecommunications giant TeliaSonera. Despite Nordic operator owns the majority of stakes, 37 percent, Çukurova controls Turkcell through a complex shareholder structure.

Deadline passed

“I wish the general meeting could have been held and Turkcell could have distributed dividends again, but Turkcell couldn’t due to the disagreements between three partners,” Ciliv said.

The three partners must reach an agreement, he insisted, as the solution to the problem.

The Capital Markets Board’s (SPK) had set a deadline for the company to resolve the issue, but the seven-member board has still been unable to meet.

SPK Chairman Vahdettin Ertaş said on July 2 that the regulator was in a position to appoint at least two members in a very short period of time.