Telia said a settlement of about $1.4 billion for its past misdeeds in Uzbekistan is “very high”, following a proposal from the US and Dutch authorities.

The company has been under investigation for more than two years about its entry into the Uzbek market in 2007.

“I have said on many occasions in the past that Telia Company’s entry into Uzbekistan was done in an unethical and wrongful way and we are prepared to take full responsibility,” said chairman Marie Ehrling (pictured).

The company is cooperating, she added. “With that said, our initial reaction to the proposal is that the amount is very high.”

“We will now have to analyse the information and decide on how to proceed with the ongoing discussions with the authorities.”

A review by a law firm found the company had failed to properly research its partner in Uzbekistan, or how this company came to hold the rights it later transferred to Telia. The law firm could not confirm Telia had paid bribes itself, but could not dismiss those claims either.

Lars Nyberg, CEO of Telia (then known as TeliaSonera) resigned over the affair at the start of 2013.

In 2015, Uzbekistan was one of seven markets in Eurasia put up for sale by Telia, as it looked to exit the region.

The proposed fine is one of the largest ever imposed under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, pointed out Financial Times. The previous record was held by Siemens which was fined $800 million in 2008 (the German company was also penalised €596 million by German authorities).