Constraining Turkcell's rating are the volatile Turkish macroeconomic environment, international expansion and significant cash consumption in Ukraine and Belarus, currency mismatches, high short-term debt, continuing legal disputes among the group's major shareholders and significant regulatory pressures. Supportive factors include the company's strong position and performance in the Turkish mobile telecom market, good mobile cash flow generation, moderate gross leverage, significant liquid assets, and associate investment in Eurasia. At Dec. 31, 2009, Turkcell reported gross consolidated debt of $1.5 billion. The Turkish macroeconomic environment stabilized since late 2009, including a more resilient Turkish lira; inflation, which declined for several quarters, has picked up somewhat, however. We expect continued legal regulatory and competitive pressures to hinder revenue and profit growth at Turkcell
