Malaysia's Astro All Asia Network yesterday blasted Indonesia's Lippo Group, saying that a dispute between them over a Jakarta-based pay-TV business was triggered by Lippo's failure to establish a joint-venture agreement. It also said Lippo had failed to transfer shares to Astro.

In a statement yesterday, Astro lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said that Lippo -could have settled this dispute much earlier if it had been committed to establishing PT Direct Vision (PTDV) as a joint venture in the way that Astro has been-.

The statement was released in response to claims made by Lippo's lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea last week.

It was the latest in a series of claims and counter-claims by the two groups since news of their feud emerged last month.

In a press conference called last week, Hotman had alleged that embezzled funds and a failure to honour commitments on the part of Astro had caused the dispute between the companies.

He said that Astro had failed to keep its promise to inject adequate investment into the joint venture.

But Todung yesterday emphatically denied the claims.

-Lippo owned 100 per cent of PTDV and its appointed nominees had equal representation on the board of directors. Lippo also appointed the entire board of commissioners. The fact of the matter is that the proposed joint venture has never been finalised because of the position taken by Lippo,- he said in the statement.