Bolivia says Telecom Italia moved funds

LA PAZ, May 15 (Reuters) - Bolivia's government said on Thursday that Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) has transferred some $90 million to foreign accounts from its subsidiary Entel, which Bolivia recently nationalized.

Bolivia's leftist government has taken over operations of Entel, but still faces a legal challenge from Telecom Italia over compensation for the nationalization.

"We were expecting this kind of measures because the shareholder (Telecom Italia) never kept funds in Bolivia when it was running the company," public works minister Oscar Coca told reporters in La Paz.

Coca didi not say when the alleged transfer was made, but said it was a "reproachable" act which will affect the negotiations over compensation with the Italian company.

No one could be reached for comment at Entel's offices in La Paz on Thursday night.

The government of President Evo Morales has signaled that it should not pay anything for Entel, claiming Telecom Italia failed to meet investment commitments and owes the government $645 million in fines and taxes.

But the Italian firm says it has invested more than it pledged when it took a 50 percent stake in the company in 1996.

Telecom Italia has filed a claim against Bolivia at the World Bank's arbitration unit, the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

Bolivia is expected to argue its withdrawal from the ICSID last year makes it immune to that claim.

In the past two years Morales has nationalized the energy industry and has moved for the government to take more control of other sectors of the economy.

Entel has 80 percent of Bolivia's long distance market and 70 percent of the mobile telephone services. (Reporting by Ana Maria Fabbri; Translating by Eduardo Garcia; Editing by Lincoln Feast)