Telia Company comments the ruling from the Stockholm district court
In light of today’s ruling from the Stockholm district court involving three former Telia employees, Telia Company has the following comments:
Telia Company’s involvement in this court case has been about which country the disgorgements from the Uzbek business will be paid to – the Netherlands, Sweden or the U.S. Today’s ruling means that USD 208.5 million will be paid to the Netherlands or the U.S. The amount to be paid will not have a financial effect for Telia Company since it was included in the global settlement that Telia Company reached in 2017 to pay fines and disgorgements in an aggregate amount of USD 965 million to the concerned authorities regarding historical transactions in Uzbekistan. The disgorgements amounted to USD 417 million, whereof USD 208.5 million already has been paid to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“The ruling does not change our position that the settlement in 2017 was in the best interest for Telia Company and our shareholders. The recently concluded court case and Telia Company’s settlement with the US and Dutch authorities partly concern the same events, but they have been tried according to different legal frameworks – US and Dutch laws for the Company and Swedish law for the former employees. It is not unusual that an event is tried under different laws in different countries and that the outcome may differ,” says Jonas Bengtsson, Group General Counsel at Telia Company.
Telia Company cooperated with US and Dutch authorities in 2014-2017. The Company concluded that these countries’ legislations were applicable and accepted responsibility for actions which were in violation of those legal frameworks.
“I welcome that the district court now has announced its ruling. Even if Telia Company has not been part of the criminal proceedings involving three former Telia employees, it has of course affected the Company. It is part of a long process which started already in 2012. Our ambition during this entire process has been to cooperate as transparently as possible with the authorities involved. The entry into Uzbekistan which began in 2007 has had very serious consequences for Telia Company and for individuals alike. The Company took its responsibility when it entered into a global resolution in September 2017, for actions which had violated US and Dutch legislations. I hope that today’s ruling will bring an end to a painful and costly chapter in Telia Company’s history,” says Marie Ehrling, Chair of the Board of Telia Company.
For more information, please contact our press office +46 771 77 58 30, visit our Newsroom or follow us on Twitter @Teliacompany.
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