On Monday, October 9, Veon, the telecommunications holding company that owns Kyivstar mobile operator, announced its exit from the Russian market.
Source. This was reported by AIN.UA with reference to the company's press service.
The holding announced its complete withdrawal from Russia and the closing of the sale of its Russian assets.
The assets were sold to a group of senior management of PJSC VimpelCom headed by Alexander Torbakhov, CEO of VimpelCom (VimpelCom, which owns the Beeline brand).
Prior to this deal, Veon owned 100% of the Russian telecom operator VimpelCom.
According to the official announcement, this deal does not provide for buy-back options (i.e., the option to repurchase the asset) and means a complete exit from the Russian market.
According to Kaan Terzioglu, CEO of the holding, the holding will focus on the remaining markets: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
VimpelCom is actively working with the Russian government, as Russian officials say. In particular, it helps to establish communications in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.
For Veon's management, there is no contradiction in this. The company does not refer to the war as a "war" in its press releases and continued to develop its Russian business until the last moment.
The company's withdrawal from the Russian market became known after the news that a court had arrested the Ukrainian assets of three Russian oligarchs, including the co-owner of Kyivstar, Mikhail Fridman. Friedman owns approximately 38% of LetterOne, which owns 48% of Bermuda-based Veon Ltd. which owns Veon Amsterdam B.V., which owns the Netherlands-based Veon Holdings B.V., which includes Kyivstar.
Kyivstar, which is the country's largest mobile operator, responded to AIN.UA's request that the seizure of one of its owners' property would not affect its operations.
Background. As reported, the court seized 100% of Kyivstar's assets. The value of the seized corporate rights of Russian oligarchs who controlled assets in Ukraine is over UAH 17 billion.