TeliaSonera to investigate Uzbek licence TeliaSonera has become the latest Nordic telecoms operator to run into trouble in emerging markets as the Swedish group faces intense pressure over its business in Uzbekistan. The partially government-owned company launched an investigation this week into claims of corruption when it purchased a telecoms licence in the central Asian country five years ago. The Swedish government, which owns 37 per cent, has criticised the group for the second time this year, hinting that it may seek a board seat as well as urging Telia to improve its ethics and anti-corruption work. The earlier criticism came after it emerged that Telia had allowed governments in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Belarus access to its users" telephone data. The latest troubles for Telia have led to Lars Nyberg offering to resign as chief executive if the corruption claims in Uzbekistan, which he strongly denies, are proved. "I am completely convinced there are no grounds to the corruption allegations directed at the company and we co-operate fully with the authorities regarding the ongoing investigation," Mr Nyberg said. Telia's problems represent only the latest in a series of problems for telecoms operators searching for growth in fast-growing emerging markets. Telenor, the Norwegian telecoms operator, saw its licence in India abruptly cancelled earlier this year. It has also had a long-running feud with the other main shareholders in Vimpelcom, a Russian operator. Brazil is cracking down on the telecoms sector, predominantly owned by foreign groups such as Telecom Italia and Portugal Telecom, as it tries to improve services before the 2014 football World Cup. Analysts say that most investors are reasonably sanguine about the higher risks in faster-growing countries. There is no growth in western European telcos. If you want growth you have to accept the risks that go along with it," says Andrew Hogley of Espirito Santo in London. Erik Pers at Danske Bank adds: "Everything comes with a cost. If you go into emerging markets you take a higher risk... When things go well investors and analysts tend to forget the risks, but when something negative happens in one emerging market then the risk perception tends to go up for all emerging markets. Telia is in more risky emerging markets than many. Outside the Nordic and Baltic regions, it is in Moldova, Nepal, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan among others. Analysts say the issue with the Uzbek allegations - first reported by Swedish television - is not their financial aspect but knock-on effects in how the company is perceived. [Uzbekistan] is a business that most analysts haven't paid much attention to. It's less than 2 per cent of revenues so for TeliaSonera it is not that material. It is much more reputational risk and loss of respective management," Mr Hogley says. Swedish anti-corruption officials are looking into circumstances surrounding Telia's acquisition of the licence from Takilant, a Gibraltar-based company. Telia has denied any wrongdoing and said it had checked that Takilant owned the licence at the time of the purchase. This week, it appointed a large Swedish law firm, Mannheimer Swartling, to investigate the claims and also made a former Swedish ambassador to Russia its new special adviser on Central Asia. Earlier this summer, it announced it would work with the Danish Institute of Human Rights after the disclosure that it allowed security services in central Asia to access customers" data over its network. Swedish politicians have been noticeably more restrained about the latest allegations with Fredrik Reinfeldt, Sweden's prime minister, stressing the need for strong ethics but also underlining how "trade and business are a way to open up countries that are very closed." Mark Thomas, a business strategy expert at PA Consulting, says that companies need completely different skills in emerging markets, meaning that local knowledge can be crucial. Our experience running companies in western countries can almost be a distraction. It is not just a language problem; it is a completely different way of looking at things," he says. Telia's shares are down about 4 per cent since the Uzbek allegations first surfaced two weeks ago. But analysts say the ripple effects could be felt elsewhere. Whatever the truth of what happened in Uzbekistan, one thing is clear: Telia will be much more heavily scrutinised in the future. Peter Norman, Sweden's financial markets minister, admitted last week that the government had been too hands-off and said the company needed to strengthen its board. "We need new and deep competence in relation to these questions: human rights, anti-corruption and the like, which don't exist in the board today," he said.