Russia raises Sistema' investments; India says judicial process on in the matter

NEW DELHI: Russia today raised concern over Sistema' investments in telecom sector with India, which said there is a judicial process on in the matter even as both countries discussed ways to enhance ties in key areas of civil nuclear cooperation, trade and space technology among others.

After comprehensive talks on strategic bilateral issues, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who jointly co-chaired the Indo- Russian Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) for Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation, talked about the "issues" confronting their business ties.

"We sought definite solutions to certain outstanding problems confronting our business communities and explored ways to enhance our trade turnover," Krishna said at a joint press interaction with Rogozin here.

Referring to "some issues" which needs to be addressed, Rogozin said, "We must do everything possible to address these problems as soon as possible for mutual benefit" but did not get into the specifics of it.

According to official sources, Russian side raised their concerns over the $3 billion Sistema' investments in the telecom sector to which the host side responded saying that there was an ongoing judicial process which was looking into the matter.

Telecom licences of Sistema Shyam Teleservices (Sistema's JV in India with Shyam Group) were among the 122 cancelled by the Supreme Court in February this year.

Rogozin said Vladimir P Yevtushenkov, Chairman of Board of Directors of JSFC Sistema's presence in his delegation was evidence of the "interest" his country has in the issue. "We feel that in this sensitive area, we must find....proper treatment to Russian economic entities participating in the local markets similar to other actors," he said.

The two sides also discussed the status of the third and fourth nuclear reactors for which the "techno-commercial" agreements were underway. "After the first two units (1000 mw each) of the project in Kudankulam, techo-commercial negotiations are underway for the third and fourth units, which are expected to be inked shortly," the sources said.