Nokia doing business with Turkmenistan dictatorship

Finnish film documents foreign business dealings with oppressive regime

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The mobile telephone manufacturer Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) are doing extensive business with the dictatorial regime of Turkmenistan. In this respect the company can be seen to be in violation of its own guidelines for corporate social responsibility.
      In early February the network manufacturer NSN agreed on a deal worth a million US dollars on the delivery of mobile network equipment to the Turkmenistan state telecom operator Altyn Asyr.
      "The government of Turkmenistan has a complete monopoly in business. There is no possibility to engage in commerce without cooperating with the government", says Turkmenistan expert Erika Daily of the Open Society Institute founded by investor George Soros.
     
Human rights organisations have been reporting for years about serious human rights violations perpetrated by the Turkmenistan government. However, this has not prevented Nokia or NSN from selling their products to the country, or working in cooperation with the dictatorship.
      "Turkmenistan is not the target of a trade embargo by the international community or the European Union. A bid for tenders was organised for this deal", says NSN, explaining its involvement with Turkmenistan. The parent company Nokia also leans on the fact that no trade sanctions have been imposed on Turkmenistan.
     
Turkmenistan is largely closed to outside companies. All business activities are controlled by the central government.
      Former Parliamentarian Holmurad Soyunov, who lives in exile in Sweden, emphasises that business in Turkmenistan is only possible through close contact with the leadership, which boils down to the dictator Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov.
      Soyunov emphasises that the paying of bribes is also standard practice.
      Marja-Liisa Kiljunen, Finland's roving Ambassador in Central Asia, recognises the same problems with the country's administration.
      "Companies in Turkmenistan have to cooperate with the country's administration, which is led by the president to a very great degree. Fortunately there are signs of an opening of the country in the long term", Kiljunen says.
     
Nokia is the clear market leader in mobile telephony in Turkmenistan. The company admits that it is selling mobile phones directly through the local distributor. Erika Daily feels that the use of a go-between does not mean that the sales would take place without the approval of the government.
      "Turkmenistan is a very extensively corrupt state".
      Nokia declares in its report on social responsibility that it seeks to respect the universal rights of all of its reference groups. According to Nokia, this goal means taking human rights into account in all business decisions and modes of action.
      "Very serious shortcomings in Turkmenistan's human rights situation continue to exist. There is no kind of civic society there, or civil liberties, such as freedom of expression or a free media. A person can be jailed for very minor crimes. For this reason, the EU has not been able to sign a treaty of partnership and cooperation with Turkmenistan", Kiljunen says.
     
The electricity contractor Ensto has gone the furthest in Turkmenistan. Four years ago the company was ready to publish a Finnish translation of the book Ruhnama by the previous dictator Saparmurat Niyazov, an undertaking that was set as a condition for the deal. Ensto withdrew from the book project at a late stage, and the deal was cancelled.
      Shadow of the Holy Book, a documentary film on the situation in Turkmenistan by Finnish director Arto Halonen, has its Finnish première on Friday. In the film, Timo Miettinen, Chairman of the Board of Ensto, apologises for the serious mistake. He feels that it was ultimately the best decision to emphasise the company's ethical values rather than doing business with the dictator.
      In his movie Halonen wanted to examine the role of international companies in shoring up the economies of dictatorial regimes.
      "I am interested in how companies fatten dictatorships through their business activities and their greed. Turkmenistan is just one example."
      Ambassador Kiljunen emphasises that the EU puts pressure on countries in human rights questions, even though it might not be seen in newspaper headlines.

More on this subject:
 Nokia issues denial of violations of guidelines for corporate social responsibility in Turkmenistan deal

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish company to translate book of Turkmenistan dictator into Finnish (24.11.2004)
  Finnish documentary calls for corporate responsibility in human rights in Turkmenistan (6.11.2007)

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