Etisalat delegation that met Ms. Anusha Rehman, Pakistani Telecom and IT Minister, yesterday yet again agreed to pay remaining USD 800 million which are pending for over seven years now.
Express Tribune, while quoting Ms. Rehman, said that Etisalat has agreed to clear the outstanding payment in the shortest possible time (with-in four weeks according to Minister), but interestingly, Etisalat delegation has made no commitment as to when it will pay the outstanding amount.
It merits mentioning here that Etisalat is still to pay USD 800 million out of USD 2.6 billion deal for 26 percent shares of PTCL that it had bought in 2005.
Etisalat says that Government of Pakistan is not handing over some of the properties, some of which are currently held by court orders in various parts of the country. Etisalat says that it will not clear the pending payment unless all the properties are transferred to the company.
Interestingly, the total amount of properties do not exceed USD 73 million, for which Etisalat is holding USD 800 Million.
Pakistani government has time and again asked Etisalat to deduct the money against held properties and clear the remaining dues, but Etisalat has apparently some other plans.
This is not the first time that Etisalat has agreed clear 800 million dollars, in fact there is a history of over five years full of commitment and promises which are yet to be realized.
Check below the timeline and events just to have an idea how well Etisalat has played and how innocent and incompetent Pakistani administration is:
- January 2010: Etisalat to Pay $800 mln to Pakistan by March: Privatization Minister
- June 2010: Etisalat Asked to Pay at least 500 Million Dollars: Finance Ministry
- February 2011: Zardari Secretly Visited UAE to Settle Issues with Etisalat
- May 2011: Etisalat Agrees to Pay Pending Payment Against More PTCL Shares
- October 2011: Etisalat Assures Pakistan for Release of US $ 800 Million: Secretary Finance
- February 2012: Etisalat to Deduct $73 Million for Properties to Settle $800 Million Dispute with GoP: Advisor to PM
- April 2012: Pakistan to Takeover PTCL if Etisalat Fails to Pay $800 Million till June 2012
- December 2012: PM Tells Etisalat Chairman to Clear Pending USD 800 Million
Keeping the track record in view, it appears that Etisalat will not pay the pending dues, unless Pakistani government decides to take on the company aggressively.
Just to add, PTCL is making over USD 100 million in profit for Etisalat every year, which means, more years you don’t pay the more money you can earn without any investment. Currency depreciation with time is another factor that will benefit Etisalat.
Also to note, Government of Pakistan was unable to auction 3G spectrum just because of this deal with Etisalat. China Mobile was also denied an LDI license due to very same deal.
GOV. Needs to take this head on ! on Paper this sounds non sense that a company holding 800 mil for a disputed property of just 73 mil . What is the inside story here ?
plus 100M profit also going out for no investment is another ridiculous thing ..
PPP Gov. Did Nothing other than taking loans and enjoying … Utter fiasco !!
We could not auction the 3g spectrum due to that deal and what we getting ?? Gov. should penalize and add the extra dues to this 800M As well.. Time to start Business as it is done !!
yup indeed
Dear Aswas Mehtab, UAE has great contributions towards Pakistan, first we should solve the issues at our end, unless we have not transferred the properties to them, it will be very unprofessional to claim such assumptions. Definitely we should admit the blunders at our government levels.
That’s I am saying , in our Gov . We do not have compitent people to tackle such complex matters … As I said if you tell any one these figures he will say the same that what non sense is this , 73M vs 800M , But matter is still there …
this time the promise might actually realize if ufone plans to bid for warid
Govt should kick out Etisalat if it is not paying. When will we stop letting others control our assets?! Either they should pay or leave. They cannot just milk the cow and while we take care of it.
We shall have to accept that under Etisalat the company has produced the profits that they are taking, Our government need the real professionals to solve the issue. Its not that difficult to solve if Etisalat had been agreeing to solve it from many years, if we had fulfilled commitments at our end.
Successive governments are unable to take action against Etisalat because the concerned pakistani politicians & bureaucracy are afraid of risking their ill gotten investments in Dubai
We should privatize our other flop departments as well, as it was good decision for Pakistan the time when etisalat took the control. PPP was even unable to solve this very transparent deal that give them what they have bought and get our money.
PeeTeeCeeEll….There goes the illusion of Islamic brotherhood. Zaid Hamid should die of shame. The pending amount should be recovered with interest.
But, its Pakistan. Shahzadas gave ‘us’ asylum and we may need them again. We dont want to be like Bhutto.
Even if we dont have the ‘pair’ required to make big decisions, we should reduce Etisalat’s share in PTCL. And we should investigate tax evasion.
Yaar Qadir hum hamesha negative keun sochtay hai, bhai humein tau our multinationals ko yahan aanay liye motivate karna chahiye, is tarah our complanies bhi demotivate hoon go. It should be resolved in the benefits of both parties, as Dar said. I liked the way he conducted the meeting.
Etisalat delayed this installment for FIVE years.They must pay mark up on this amount.Etisalat has not paid its share for the pensioners for last four years and 40000 PTCL Pensioners including 13000 widows are deprived of their right of increase in pension and Medical Allowance as announced by Govt. of Pakistan,as it had been throughout the history.
Ali Murad has really a meaning, please read his comment below, we need this revolution.
pls ab ptcl pensioner ka case hal kere. thanks
Main tau kehta hoon keh yeh pension wala kaam hi humarey mulak se khatam kar diya jaey, Yeh paki nokrian hi humaray adaron ki tabahi ki wajah hain. Woh log isi liye kaam hi nahin kartey. Private people work and perform because they know only its required to retain their career.
Etisalat ko musharaf govt nay kafi laad payar say pochay lga kar ptcl shares kharidnay per razamnad kea tha. Kai ganday promises kiay gayay etisalat kay sath jin main main aik 2013 tak kisi aur telecom company ko license na denay ka promise bhi tha.
Whatever the Musharaf is, but the current boom in technology, telecom and media is exclusively his credit.
Musharaf was better than all current present politicians. Telecom, Defence aur china kay sath jo tarraki ke raftar taiz hoi Musharraf dor say he hoi.
We should try to realize the issue, if there was a deal to transfer the full payments only if when all the properties has been transferred then our government concerns are responsible. They should have transferred the documented properties in time. Our previous government is the only culprit.
Very well said sir, I totally agree. This is not sabzi mandi where one would pay later after having the bhujjia first. A contract is a contract, I do not get one simple thing. If these properties are worth just a mere 73 Million, why does not the Govt. just give them to the rightful owner?
P.S: Please be fair and post my previous comment, freedom of speech is for everyone. You should not be the only one enjoying this perk!!!