Cukurova secures extension to reclaim Turkcell stake

Istanbul-based Cukurova Holding has secured an extension on the payment it owes Russia’s Altimo in order to recover its disputed 13.8% stake in Turkish mobile giant Turkcell, the Wall Street Journal reports. The deadline for the Turkish conglomerate’s payment to the Moscow-based company is 60 days after a ruling in a separate case being held in New York, the UK’s Privy Council declared at this week’s hearing. Cukurova’s payment to Altimo will start accruing interest 19 days after the US court decision.

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Russia’s Altimo, the telecoms investment arm of oligarch Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group, appropriated the stake when Cukurova defaulted on a USD1.35 billion loan. In July 2013 the Privy Council decided that Cukurova Holding must pay USD1.56 billion to recover the stake. The Privy Council is hearing the case because Cukurova Holding is registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). The Council was formerly a supreme court of appeal for the entire British Empire (other than for the United Kingdom itself), and continues to hear appeals from the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, and a number of Commonwealth member countries.