Iraq wins ruling obliging telecom company to pay $800 million
Korek shop in Family Mall in Sulaymaniyah. Photo: Family Mall/Facebook page
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Communications and Media Commission (CMC) of Iraq, announced on Sunday it won a judicial ruling obliging a local company to pay 800 million USD for stumbling dues.
“With serious follow-up from the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, the CMC settled a dispute with Korek Telecom, obliging it to pay approximately 800 million USD in favor of the Iraqi government,” the CEO of the CMC, Ali Al-Moaed, said in a press statement.
“The amounts the company obliged to pay are for fees of licenses and equipment used by the company, as well as other dues that have not been paid for years,” Al-Moaed explained.
Al-Moaed elaborated that the CMC will resort to other legal procedures if Korek Telecom failed to pay the financial obligations incurred.
Korek Telecom is an Iraqi Kurdish mobile phone operator company in the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Erbil. In March 2011, Orange S.A. acquired a 20 percent indirect stake in Korek Telecom.
The Iraqi official clarified that the CMC will continue to monitor any practices by mobile operators violating the terms of the license or failing to pay financial dues.
CMC’s CEO also indicated that this decision represents a step forward in resolving many complicated issues accumulated for years.