Russia's top mobile phone company MTS says it has fallen prey to a "classic shakedown" in Uzbekistan but still hopes to save its $1 billion business after losing its operating licence in the Central Asian state. First, however, the authorities should release four local managers that have been detained and cease a campaign of intimidation against other staff of its Uzbek subsidiary, a senior MTS executive told Reuters.
A three-month crackdown by Uzbekistan on MTS has reinforced the country's reputation as one of the most hostile environments for foreign investors in the former Soviet Union and exposed the lack of clout wielded by former colonial master Moscow. "We absolutely want to save the business," Michael Hecker, MTS's vice-president for strategy, told Reuters in an interview at the company's Moscow headquarters.