VEON Group, the parent company of Ukraine’s largest telecom operator Kyivstar, has started implementing $600 million in investment commitments to rebuild Ukraine, the VEON press service said on Monday.
“VEON, a global converged communications and online services provider, and its subsidiary Kyivstar, are pleased to announce that they have officially started implementing the $600 million investment commitment to rebuild Ukraine announced in June 2023,” the statement said.
The investment will be utilized over three years, from 2024 to 2026.
It is reported that Kyivstar’s capital investments in 2023 amounted to $174 million. At the same time, the volume of future investment commitments from $600 million in the three-year period can be increased to $1 billion in the five-year perspective, if market conditions allow, VEON assured.
It is noted that VEON’s investment commitments were the subject of a visit to Kyiv by a high-level delegation, including former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was recently elected as an independent member of Kyivstar’s supervisory board, for the first time since his appointment.
According to a press release, he, along with VEON co-founder Auggie Fabella and VEON Group CEO and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Kyivstar Kaan Terzioglu, met with the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, and Deputy Head of Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Esselien van Erten.
“I am very pleased to be back in Kyiv, now as a member of the VEON family and a member of the Supervisory Board of Kyivstar. Ukraine must win this war, both on the battlefield and economically. The private sector, especially international investors, has a crucial role to play in ensuring this victory, and I believe that all stakeholders understand and appreciate this. I am inspired by the incredible commitment of VEON and Kyivstar, as well as other private sector companies, who continue to serve Ukrainians with dedication and tenacity,” Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
For his part, Terzioğlu thanked for the support during the process of international investors’ withdrawal from Russia, which ended in October 2023, as well as for the focus on investments in Ukraine, including $600 million in commitments this year.
Kyivstar’s President Oleksandr Komarov noted that with the start of the implementation of these investment commitments, this year marks the beginning of an ambitious journey for Kyivstar.
“Thanks to the support of our parent company VEON, the leadership of the Board of Directors of Kyivstar, which has become stronger than ever thanks to Secretary Pompeo, the unwavering commitment of our team of 4,000 people and the unwavering gratitude of our 24 million customers, Kyivstar is an example of a company that is taking on the challenge of rebuilding Ukraine today, overcoming all difficulties and never losing focus,” the company’s press service quoted him as saying.
Earlier it was reported that Pompeo met with Kyivstar’s staff in Kyiv last Thursday at the invitation of the company’s management and the CEO of VEON Group.
VEON, a telecommunications holding company headquartered in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), owns 100% of Kyivstar, the largest telecommunications operator in Ukraine, which serves 24 million customers with mobile and fixed-line communications and digital services. The VEON Group operators serve 160 million customers in Pakistan, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan – six markets with more than 510 million users. VEON shares are listed on Nasdaq and Euronext Amsterdam.
