The Indian subsidiary of Russia-based telecom operator Sistema JSFC, Sistema Shyam Teleservices’, (SSTL) chief executive officer (CEO) Dmitry Shukov has been granted security clearance by the government. The clearance is in line with the policy of the government for the foreigners holding top positions in a telecom company in India to receive security clearance every year from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The application procedure is routed through the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

SSTL had applied for security clearance in June 2013 after Shukov joined as the company’s CEO. The clearance is valid until July 2015, after which another approval from the government will be necessary.

As the delays in such clearances do not restrict the foreigners from operating in their designated roles, DoT had recently asked the home ministry to relax the rule as the process takes months to conclude. Further, it had suggested an extension of the validity of security approval from one to five years.