Turkcell Ceo Ciliv: The Company will overcome disagreement between shareholders

Süreyya Ciliv, the CEO of Turkey’s leading GSM operator, Turkcell, said in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev on Thursday that they have faith the company will overcome an ongoing disagreement between the company’s three major shareholders.

Ciliv was speaking to reporters during a press conference in Kiev to announce the company’s Q1 results along with information on operations overseas.

A conflict between the three largest Turkcell shareholders — Scandinavian TeliaSonera, Russian Altimo and Turkey’s Çukurova — recently came to the surface when the telecommunication giant TeliaSonera demanded the dismissal of chairman of the board of directors Colin Williams. TeliaSonera accused Williams of blocking an increase in the number of independent board members. The claim is backed by Altimo, while Çukurova denies any such accusation.

TeliaSonera and Altimo demand a change in the Turkish-controlled partnership. The two partners’ attempt to tilt the membership distribution in their favor failed at a company general assembly last week. Uneasy with the developments, TeliaSonera took legal action against Williams. Turkcell İletişim’s board has seven members, with each of the three partners being represented by two members, in addition to one independent member. Fifty-three percent of Turkcell Holding is owned by the Çukurova-Altimo partnership and 47 percent by TeliaSonera.

“I saw some constructive solutions brought to table in our latest board meeting. … Our board has the necessary will to bring an end to the current stalemate,” Ciliv explained. He said the problem could only be solved by increasing the number of independent board members to at least three.

“I am hopeful we will see noteworthy improvements in the current situation and eventually solve it within the next few months. … Turkcell is also happy to see our state’s support for a solution to the problem.” Recent statements from the government and President Abdullah Gül support a favorable solution in the company without damaging the brand name, which is valuable for Turkey on a global scale.

The CEO highlighted that the problem can only be solved with an increase in the number of independent members on the board, saying, “The managing team wants to concentrate on upcoming projects and expand the company in current markets to open to new markets.”

Regarding performance in the first three months of the year, Ciliv says Turkcell has experienced a “tough quarter” and attributes the decline in performance to the company’s increased infrastructure investments in the final quarter of 2010, along with rising costs from April of last year. Turkcell’s income in Turkey dropped by 5.8 percent in the first quarter over the same period in 2010, while the operator’s net profits dropped by 21.1 percent in the same period. Ciliv notes that they will compensate for the loss in the following three quarters. The company expects to grow by an average of 5 percent — faster than figures show for last year over 2009 — as Ciliv highlighted that they will “resume high growth rates starting in April.” Meanwhile, Turkcell’s joint GSM venture with the Ukrainian Astelit company life:) has increased their profits in the first quarter by 224 percent over the same quarter in 2010, a total of $12 million. Life:) serves 8.7 million customers in the country.

29 April 2011
SOURCE: TODAYS ZAMAN