The World Bank has asked mobile phone operator Cellis, which early this month lost a 10-year contract in Lebanon, to pay back its $100 million loan.
A Cellis executive confirmed Monday that the company had received a letter from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the financial arm of the World Bank, requesting repayment of the six-year loan, as the Lebanese government has terminated the company’s contract with the firm, said the Daily Star.
Under the terms of the agreement with the IFC, Cellis must pay the entire $100 million loan if the contract is revoked for any reason.
“France Telecom, which owns 69 percent of Cellis, will probably pay the rest of the (IFC) loan soon because the contract with the government was canceled three years before its original expiry,” the Cellis executive said.
The French telecom company has already settled nearly half of the six-year loan.
A source was quoted by the paper as saying that “there is no problem in paying the money. But France Telecom is not happy about the turn of events.” – Albawaba.com
