Technoglitch
Core Member
You were a part of SSTL till not so long back. Can you take us through Sistema's journey in India?
It was tough and rewarding. We beefed up our capabilities in doing international business. Most people say that if you succeed in India you can succeed anywhere else. India is a tough, cost conscious and competitive market which is definitely not the case in Russia. We got a lot of experience while working here.
Sistema was not able to get a return on its investment in India which was very disappointing. We did not expect so many changes in regulations. Had the regulator been consistent and the terms of investmentsframed on a long term basis, Sistema would have been much more successful.
Did the thought of pulling out of India ever come up?
Yes, when the licenses were cancelled on 2nd February, 2012. One of the scenarios at that time was obviously withdrawal and we went into international arbitration within the BIT framework.
Was the call to merge with RCom the best case scenario for sustaining business?
Time will judge it. At this stage, merging the telecom business with RCom is the most natural path for Sistema from the technology development, business development and spectrum holding perspective.
In telecom, what matters most is 'scale of business'. While Sistema was successful in building its brand, the company could not build up much scale. Absence of CDMA handsets was also a constraint. Telecom continues to be a very capital intensive business, hence merging with RCom is a logical decision.
Sistema disappointed with not getting return on investment in India: Vsevolod Rozanov, Sistema CFO - timesofindia-economictimes
It was tough and rewarding. We beefed up our capabilities in doing international business. Most people say that if you succeed in India you can succeed anywhere else. India is a tough, cost conscious and competitive market which is definitely not the case in Russia. We got a lot of experience while working here.
Sistema was not able to get a return on its investment in India which was very disappointing. We did not expect so many changes in regulations. Had the regulator been consistent and the terms of investmentsframed on a long term basis, Sistema would have been much more successful.
Did the thought of pulling out of India ever come up?
Yes, when the licenses were cancelled on 2nd February, 2012. One of the scenarios at that time was obviously withdrawal and we went into international arbitration within the BIT framework.
Was the call to merge with RCom the best case scenario for sustaining business?
Time will judge it. At this stage, merging the telecom business with RCom is the most natural path for Sistema from the technology development, business development and spectrum holding perspective.
In telecom, what matters most is 'scale of business'. While Sistema was successful in building its brand, the company could not build up much scale. Absence of CDMA handsets was also a constraint. Telecom continues to be a very capital intensive business, hence merging with RCom is a logical decision.
Sistema disappointed with not getting return on investment in India: Vsevolod Rozanov, Sistema CFO - timesofindia-economictimes
