Sawiris’ Orascom denies nationalisation by North Korea

Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) denied the nationalisation of its subsidiary Koryolink by North Korea’s government, head of the investors’ relations department Marawan Hussein said Saturday.

Hussein said there are ongoing negotiations to merge Koryolink with a state-owned mobile services operator in North Korea.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that North Korea took control of Koryolink. Orascom however discovered that North Korea was starting a competitor to Koryolink called Byol and then began discussions about merging it with Koryolink.

Last week, OTMT announced it decided to deconsolidate Koryolink, making it an associate instead of a subsidiary.

“Negotiations are not terminated; it is clear to us from the current discussions that consolidating the asset will be difficult as per International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Egyptian Accounting Standards (EAS) regulations,” the company said last week.

OTMT CEO Naguib Sawiris said the company’s pending issues will be resolved, noting that he was forced to deconsolidate Koryolink from the company’s financial statements.

Source: Daily News Egypt