Cyprus lawyer serves Telsim with court order

A Nicosia court has granted a final order, following an interim order requested by a Cyprus based company last week, against Turkish telecom giant Telsim Mobil demanding full payment on over USD 738 mln in bearer promissory notes issued in 2003.

The law firm of Michael Michaelides, representing the interests of Rosamara Trading Ltd., secured court approval ordering Telsim from transferring, leasing or mortgaging its assets.

The order was served by courier on Telsim on May 1 and prevents Telsim from collecting or demanding payment of any amount up to USD 738 mln generated from SMS, international, GPRS, voice mail and roaming revenues from up to 20 telecom companies operating in the EU including most Vodafone subsidiaries.

Telsim did not appear in Nicosia District Court on Monday and it is unclear if it will appeal against the injunction order.

Rosamara sued Telsim demanding full payment on over USD 738 mln in bearer promissory notes that were issued by Telsim in 2003. The notes matured earlier this year and are secured by the assets and roaming income of Telsim, Turkey’s second largest cell phone operator.

Telsim’s operations were taken over by Turkey’s state deposit insurance fund (SDIF) in 2004, after the bonds were issued and entered on the corporate books.

Several months ago the SDIF conducted a public auction of Telsim assets and received bids from telecom groups in Europe, the Middle East and Russia. The winning bid of USD 4.5 bln was submitted by British telecom giant Vodafone.