Statement from The Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, Etisalat

The proceedings served on Etisalat DB today by Majestic and Mr Balwa are wholly baseless.
This is a cynical tactical move by parties charged with major corruption offences to shift attention away from their own situation and to disrupt the proper running of Etisalat DB to the detriment of its shareholders and customers.
Mr Balwa was the managing director of Etisalat DB until his recent resignation and Majestic has a larger shareholding than Etisalat.
The management of Etisalat DB has been made dramatically more difficult by Mr Balwa and Mr Goenka being in prison and by the approach taken by them to its business, not least in relation to the 2G license allegations when the company’s defense appears to have been conducted to benefit their personal position.
Etisalat is investigating closely both the circumstance in which Mr Balwa persuaded it to invest in Swan (now Etisalat DB) – as a third party foreign investor, brought in after Mr Balwa and Swan had obtained the licenses – and also Mr Balwa’s stewardship of the company and its assets.