Israel's Electra Consumer Products has filed an 80 million shekel ($23 million) lawsuit against Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies, accusing it of breach of contract in electronics imports to Israeli customers, the company said Tuesday.
In 2016, Electra and Huawei signed an exclusive five-year distribution deal for 2017 to 2022 under which Electra became the sole importer and distributor of Huawei's cellphones, tablets and accessories in Israel.
However, Electra reported last month that it had been informed by Huawei that it had not met the purchase targets for 2017 required for extending the import agreement another year.
Electra said there was no reason to end the contract and it was now suing Huawei in an Israeli court for "a fundamental breach of the cooperation and distribution agreement," according to a statement on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
The company claims Huawei "conducted negotiations in bad faith."
Officials at Huawei could not be reached for comment.
Electra said its subsidiary that handles the import of smartphones, watches and other electronic devices from Huawei had sales of 87 million shekels ($25 million) in the first nine months of 2017.
