ASHGABAT – Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry has issued a statement refusing to compensate Russia’s MTS cell phone provider for losses after shutting down its operations in Turkmenistan market last year, Turkmenistan.ru reported June 18.

The Turkmen side followed lawful procedures in refusing to renew MTS’s five-year licence last year, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The end of MTS’s contract left 2.4m Turkmen subscribers without service. The decision reportedly cost MTS US $140m (2 trillion TMM). MTS is fighting the decision in Turkmen and international courts.