Russian telecom operator Tele2 has started legal proceedings in Moscow against Ericsson over what it says is the Swedish firm's refusal to honor agreements to supply equipment, Reuters reported on Friday.
In a statement to Reuters, Tele2 said they have initiated proceedings against Ericsson and Satel TVK, a Russian company that supplied Tele2 with Ericsson equipment, due to the refusal of the companies to fulfill their obligations to provide equipment.
Most of the undelivered equipment refers to orders “made long before sanctions were imposed," Tele2 told Reuters.
A spokesperson for Ericsson supplied Fierce with the following statement: “We are aware of media reports of a lawsuit having been filed in Russia. We will not comment further at this time.”
In February, Ericsson suspended all deliveries to customers in Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24. In April, Ericsson said it was suspending its business with customers in Russia indefinitely.
After Swedish media reported in September that Ericsson was still exporting products to Russia, Ericsson said it was only offering software and technical support to its Russian clients and had not sold any telecom gear to network operators in the country since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Reuters earlier reported.
According to a Q&A that Ericsson posted last month, it’s winding down its customer engagements in Russia and intends to complete that by year end.
Going into 2023, Ericsson will still have a small presence on a local basis, and certain of its subsidiaries will continue to terminate messaging and voice traffic for global customers. “A legal entity owned by Ericsson will be registered to close out the wind-down, and to fulfill legal, contractual and administrative requirements,” Ericsson stated.
It also said 400 employees in Russia have been notified of layoffs and are leaving Ericsson.