By Amin Ahmed

ISLAMABAD: Etisalat has strongly reacted to a statement about PTCL’s privatisation made by Minister for Privatisation Waqar Ahmed Khan in the National Assembly on Wednesday and said that the acquisition of the corporation was legally valid.

“Etisalat’s investment in PTCL came in the wake of a welcome invitation and encouragement by the government of Pakistan to participate in the privatisation process, which the corporation was pleased to accept given the special and brotherly relations between the UAE and Pakistan,” Chairman and Managing Director of Etisalat, Mohammad Omran, said in a statement on Thursday.

He said: “The governance and strict procurement rules of Etisalat required that before approving an acquisition of an asset, its board of directors obtained a legal opinion from international and country national external counsel which confirmed in no ambiguous terms that the requisite steps for the sale of that asset had been followed and that the acquisition is legally valid under the laws of the relevant country.”

Mr Omran pointed out that the commercial agreements with the Pakistan government called for the transfer of the properties to PTCL and not to Etisalat. When the properties are transferred to PTCL, the government, being the 62 per cent shareholder of PTCL, will be the single largest beneficiary.

About the withholding of instalment payments, Mr Omran said that under the agreed terms of transaction, Etisalat was entitled to withhold payments until the property titles were transferred to PTCL. “Our aim is to ensure that PTCL receives clean title to and possession of all properties,” he said, adding that “we are confident that when the Privatisation Commission fulfils its obligation, Etisalat will immediately release the instalments.”
Source: Dawn
Date:4/2/2010