Uzbekistan's antimonopoly watchdog has fined Uzdunrobit telecom firm, a subsidiary of Russian mobile operator MTS in Uzbekistan, about $80 million for violation of antimonopoly and consumer protection laws and laws governing advertisements, MTS said on Wednesday.
"The charges brought against Uzdunrobit by Uzbekistan's antimonopoly authorities are unwarranted and illegal as the company has always complied with the requirements of Uzbek law," MTS said in a statement.
"The charges are not based on facts pertaining to the company’s operations in Uzbekistan and do not take into account standard practices of operations of telecommunication companies, both in Uzbekistan and around the world," MTS added.
The Uzbek telecom watchdog suspended Uzdunrobit's license on July 17, initially for 10 working days, for what it said where "repeated and systematic gross violations, and also for failure to comply with the regulator’s directions."
The order came into force on the same day. The Tashkent Commercial Court extended the license suspension for another three months on Monday, citing Uzdunrobit's failure to comply with the regulator’s directions.
MTS has told Prime news agency earlier in August that the company considered the Uzbek prosecutors' actions were intended to deprive the Russian mobile firm of its business in the Central Asian state.
