Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin and Etisalat International Group CEO Hatem Dowidar reached an agreement on Wednesday to resolve all remaining concerns between the telecommunications business and the Privatisation Commission. The outstanding payment issue with PTCL is anticipated to be resolved shortly, according to Hatem Dowidar, group CEO of e&, the UAE telecoms group formerly known as etisalat. “It is now in the hands of the Pakistani government. I recently met with Pakistan’s Finance Minister in Islamabad to explore possible solutions to the problem “Dowidar stated. In June 2005, Etisalat agreed to pay $2.6 billion for a 26% stake in PTCL with managerial control. It paid Pakistan $1.8 billion and withheld $800 million due to a property-transfer dispute with the Pakistani government. According to reports, “the $800 million has been in the escrow account for more than a decade, and the corporation would transfer the remaining funds if the situation is resolved.” According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Privatization, all but 34 of the 3,500 assets designated for PTCL have already been turned over to the former telecom monopoly. According to Pakistan’s official position, the remaining 34 properties cannot be signed over owing to ownership issues, hence the value of these properties would be reduced from Etisalat’s debt. Officials in Pakistan claim to have given Etisalat with a list of all properties as well as information on why the remaining 33 properties could not be transferred to PTCL.
