Veon leaves Russian market

The relevant statement was made by Bloomberg, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

In particular, Veon’s PJSC VimpelCom was sold to the local management team led by Chief Executive Officer Alexander Torbakhov, the Amsterdam-headquartered telecommunications company said in a statement. The deal does not provide for any buyback arrangements.

In November, Veon said that it planned to sell the Russian unit for RUB 130 billion (USD 1.3 billion). The amount would primarily be paid by taking on Veon’s debt.

The company had said the disposal represented the “single-most material deleveraging action” available to it, while increasing its prospects for access to international debt markets.

Veon was founded in Moscow in 1992 as VimpelCom, one of Russia’s first cellular phone providers. It then expanded operations across countries including Ukraine, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh, and now has about 160 million customers.

In Ukraine, Veon owns the telecommunications company Kyivstar.

According to Bloomberg, about 48% of Veon’s shares are owned by LetterOne Investment Holdings, established by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, who was sanctioned by the EU and the United Kongdom last year, and stepped down from the boards of Veon and LetterOne.

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