On Tuesday, November 25, 1997, a Qualcomm employee, Richard Loren Bliss, was detained by the Department of the Federal Security Service in Rostov, Russia. Mr. Bliss is a field technician who was in the process of installing and testing a wireless telecommunications system on behalf of Electrosviaz of Rostov Region, a Qualcomm customer. To our knowledge, all of Mr. Bliss' activities were in accordance with Russian law, conducted in the normal course of business with a representative of Electrosviaz of Rostov Region present at all times.
We do not believe that Mr. Bliss or Qualcomm knowingly violated any Russian laws. We will continue to cooperate fully with the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and Russian officials in this investigation. Our immediate concern is for Mr. Bliss and his family, and we are working diligently to obtain his release and return him safely to the U.S. Qualcomm has ongoing contracts to deliver modern telecommunications systems to Russia, and we will continue our work throughout the region.
For more information, please contact Daniel Pegg, senior vice president of Public Affairs for Qualcomm at 619-651-2577 or Julie Cunningham, vice president of Investor Relations at 619-658-4224.
