Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, is interested in expanding its digital growth strategy by entering the digital banking market and is engaged in discussions with the National Bank of Ukraine, company representatives said during a conference call on Friday regarding its 2025 financial results.
“If you look at the portfolio of Sasha (Kyivstar President and CEO Alexander Komarov) and Boris (CFO Boris Dolgushin), you’ll see one obvious element that’s missing, namely digital banking. “I think this is the part that inspires us all for the next few years,” said Kaan Terzioglu, chairman of Kyivstar’s supervisory board and CEO of VEON, the company’s majority owner.
“We’re working on it. We are in dialogue with the National Bank of Ukraine. We want to resolve this issue, but, of course, you know, we want to combine this with a very clear strategy,” Komarov noted in turn.
According to him, the question is what role Kyivstar wants to play, because there are different types of licenses and different approaches.
“So for us, this is… not just a matter of regulation; it’s also a matter of the right strategy for entering this segment,” emphasized Kyivstar’s President and CEO.
As reported, Kyivstar served 22.4 million mobile subscribers and 1.2 million “Home Internet” subscribers as of the end of 2025. In 2025, the company increased its EBITDA by 30% to UAH 27 billion, with revenue growing by 30.3% to UAH 48.2 billion; including a 23.1% increase in EBITDA to UAH 7.2 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, with revenue growing by 30.1% to UAH 13.5 billion.
