In September 2012, Uppdrag Granskning revealed that telecom giant TeliaSonera, now Telia Company, bribed Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of the Uzbek dictator, to gain access to the country's telecom market. According to official sources, Telia paid a total of about three billion kronor in bribes, including through the mailbox company Takilant in Gibraltar, which had an account in Switzerland and was backed by Karimova. In exchange, Telia received licenses and frequencies in Uzbekistan.
The revelation led to Swedish prosecution against Telia's then-CEO Lars Nyberg and two other former Telia executives for bribery. They were acquitted of bribery due to a loophole in Swedish law: Gulnara Karimova was not considered a bribeable person because she lacked formal authority to exercise public power over the Uzbek telecom market, according to official sources. The ruling has led to a review of Swedish bribery legislation.
It remains unclear what the current status is of any ongoing investigations or legal actions related to this case in other jurisdictions. How Telia's operations in Uzbekistan evolved after this bribery scandal is not publicly confirmed. The specific roles and outcomes for the two other former Telia executives prosecuted alongside Lars Nyberg have also not been disclosed.