Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

“Kyivstar” Tops Ranking of Ukrainian Telecom Operators by Revenue

The top three operators in Ukraine by revenue from telecommunications services for January–March 2026 were, by a wide margin, mobile operators: Kyivstar PJSC – 12.08 billion UAH, VF Ukraine PJSC (Vodafone-Ukraine brand) – 6.69 billion UAH, and lifecell LLC (lifecell brand) of the DVL Group – 4.18 billion UAH.

According to data from the National Commission for the Regulation of Electronic Communications and Postal Services (NCREC) published on its website, compared to 2025 figures, Kyivstar’s revenue increased by 15.1%, Vodafone-Ukraine’s by 10%, and lifecell’s by 13.9%.
As previously reported, for 2025 as a whole, these growth rates were 20.3%, 13.1%, and 19.1%, respectively.

The top five operators by revenue in the first quarter of 2026 also included the fixed-line operator PJSC “Ukrtelecom,” which saw its revenue decline by 6.3% compared to the same period in 2025, to 1.10 billion UAH.
Kyivstar’s “sister” company, LLC “Ukraine Tower Company” (UTC), rounded out the top five in terms of revenue in the first quarter of 2026, increasing its revenue by 20.7% to 0.86 billion UAH.

According to the report, in the second group of five by telecommunications revenue, the fixed-line operator PJSC “Datagroup” from the DVL Group leads the way, having increased its revenue by 37.9% compared to the same period last year—to 0.58 billion UAH—thereby moving up from 7th to 6th place.
Next is the fixed-line operator PJSC “Farlep-Invest,” controlled by “VF Ukraine,” which increased its revenue by 52.8%—to 0.27 billion UAH—and moved from 9th place in 2025 to 7th in 2026.

LLC “Ukrainian Network Solutions,” the holding company for “Vodafone Ukraine,” increased its telecommunications revenue 2.5-fold in the first quarter of 2026—to 0.27 billion UAH—ranking 8th.
Rounding out the top five was “Home-Net” Scientific and Industrial Company LLC, which managed to increase its revenue by 24.1%—to 0.21 billion UAH—moving up from 10th to 9th place.

For its part, the Radio Broadcasting, Radio Communications, and Television Concern increased its revenue in the first quarter of 2026 by 7.2% compared to the same period in 2025—to 0.17 billion UAH—ranking 10th.
According to the regulator’s data, the top three mobile operators also led in terms of capital investments in the telecommunications sector during the first quarter of 2026: “Kyivstar” increased its investments by 49.7% compared to 2025—to 3.17 billion UAH, “Vodafone-Ukraine” by 6.3% to 1.33 billion UAH, and lifecell by 23.3% to 1.27 billion UAH.

At the same time, Ukraine Tower Company LLC reduced its capital investments in the first quarter of 2026 by 18.3% compared to the first quarter of 2025, down to 0.29 billion UAH, while Farlep-Invest PJSC increased this figure by 18.3% to 0.28 billion UAH.
“Ukrtelecom” also reduced its investment volume by 28.2% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year—to 61.9 million UAH, while “Datagroup” reduced its investment by 17.2%—to 47.9 million UAH, thus securing 7th and 8th places, respectively.

In turn, Ukrainian Network Solutions LLC, which ranked 6th in investment volume in the first quarter, also reduced its investment by 50.9% compared to the same period last year—to 94.9 million UAH.

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AMCU Approved Kyivstar’s Acquisition of Control Over GigaCloud

The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) approved PrJSC “Kyivstar”’s acquisition of control over LLC “GigaCloud”—the cloud provider GigaCloud.

The AMCU adopted the relevant decision on July 9, 2026.

GigaCloud is a cloud service provider founded in 2016 that specializes in providing relevant services to businesses. The company’s clients include the agricultural holding Kernel, Naftogaz, and others.

In late May, during the “Business Breakfast with Volodymyr Fedorin,” Kyivstar President and CEO Oleksandr Komarov declined to comment on a possible acquisition of GigaCloud but also noted the group’s interest in strengthening its position in the cloud business.

“This is one of our strategic priorities. It could happen organically, since we are a major Microsoft partner—we are currently building our own cloud. It could also happen inorganically if we identify attractive targets,” Komarov emphasized.

In June 2025, the mobile operator launched its own cloud service for Ukrainian users, Kyivstar Cloud, which is available to small, medium, and large businesses, as well as public sector organizations.

In the first quarter of 2026, Kyivstar increased its EBITDA by 28.5% to 7.5 billion UAH, while revenue grew by 31.3% to 13.9 billion UAH.

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“Kyivstar” is considering pilot bond offering on Ukrainian market

Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecommunications operator, is considering a pilot bond offering on the Ukrainian market, the company’s President and CEO Oleksandr Komarov announced at the “UP 100 Business” event in Kyiv on the evening of June 17, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of “Ekonomichna Pravda.”

“We have a functioning business with fairly solid metrics. I feel that if we need financing in hryvnia or foreign currency, there are bond instruments that we plan to try in the near future. I see this opportunity and don’t see any obstacles,” Komarov noted.

He recalled that at one point in its history, Kyivstar was “approximately $250 million in debt” and successfully and promptly fulfilled all its obligations.

According to him, the company has never taken out loans secured by its assets, only against its working capital.

Komarov added that an instrument such as bonds could enable Kyivstar to implement a strategy of independence from its current liquidity levels.

He also expressed the view that “something positive is happening at the (National) Securities Commission” right now.

“I hope there will be some degree of legalization, and that new, simplified mechanisms for raising capital will be created. In other words, it seems to me that, despite the very difficult environment, we are gradually moving in the right direction,” said the president of Kyivstar on the day a bill was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada to simplify the registration of private share offerings.

As reported, Kyivstar increased its consolidated EBITDA by 28.5% in the first quarter of 2026—to 7.5 billion UAH—while revenue grew by 31.3%—to 13.9 billion UAH.

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Kyivstar aims to increase share of digital services in its revenue to 50%

Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, has announced its vision to increase the share of revenue from digital services to 50% in the future, a figure that has risen to 20% in recent years.

“Our vision is that one day our revenue from digital services will equal our revenue from telecommunications. We’ve reached 20% now. We still need 30%,” Kyivstar CEO and President Oleksandr Komarov said at Forbes Money on Thursday.

According to him, thanks to this year’s acquisition of Tabletki, the company already has more digital customers than telecom customers: the group’s digital businesses reached a three-month audience of 28 million users, compared to 22 million in the telecom business.

“In other words, we are moving forward with the implementation of our strategy. We understand that the core value today, unfortunately, is not created by the presence of a telecom connection,” Komarov added.

He clarified that the company is currently building an ecosystem of various digital services around its core offering, which is the telecom business.

“But perhaps in five years, the core offering will be, for example, the ‘Uklon’ offering. In other words, this creates a field of opportunities for the development of the Kyivstar Group,” said the president of Kyivstar.

Komarov noted that the company’s investment payback period is estimated at around 5–6 years.

“We don’t factor synergies into the deals, but we certainly keep in mind what synergies we can achieve. For example, the synergies between Kyivstar and Tabletki are quite insignificant, but the synergies between Tabletki and Helsi are quite significant,” the mobile operator’s CEO cited as an example.

He emphasized that it is also important for Kyivstar to reduce its dependence on its core telecom business, as investors are less interested in this sector.

“There is hope that at some point we will be able to position this group as a set of digital assets with a completely different perspective on its valuation,” Komarov explained.

As reported, Kyivstar increased its consolidated EBITDA by 28.5% in the first quarter of 2026—to 7.5 billion UAH—while revenue grew by 31.3%—to 13.9 billion UAH.

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Solar power plants acquired by Kyivstar generated 682 mln hryvnias in revenue

The unaudited EBITDA of six solar power plants (SPPs) with a total installed capacity of 105 MW in the Lviv region, which Ukraine’s largest mobile operator Kyivstar acquired for 3.6 billion UAH (or $80.8 million), amounted to UAH 596 million in 2025.

According to Kyivstar’s presentation on the acquisition, the revenue of these six SPPs, commissioned between 2017 and 2025, totaled UAH 682 million last year.

The operator noted that this investment, calculated at $0.77 million per 1 MW, aligns with one of its four priorities—capital investment in real assets that mitigate inflationary and/or currency risk.

“Renewable energy is one of the key areas of Kyivstar’s investment portfolio, as it opens up opportunities for the further use of ‘green’ electricity to cover part of the company’s energy needs,” Kyivstar CEO and President Oleksandr Komarov is quoted as saying in the press release.

The three other priorities listed are investments in infrastructure reconstruction and preventive network protection, the development of a digital ecosystem through adjacent acquisitions, and increasing the market share of fixed broadband through targeted acquisitions.

Taking into account the initial purchase last December of the 13-MW “Sunwin 11” solar power plant for $3 million in the Zhytomyr region, Kyivstar’s total “green” generation capacity has grown to 118 MW, which enables the production of electricity equivalent to approximately 30% of the company’s current annual consumption, according to the press release.

“Electricity from the acquired solar power plant group will be fed into Ukraine’s unified power grid in accordance with current market and regulatory rules, which will allow Kyivstar to partially hedge risks associated with fluctuations in electricity prices,” Kyivstar explained.

The mobile operator noted that these “green” projects also enable it to build a long-term energy consumption model, strengthen the country’s energy sector, and align with sustainable development goals.

Kyivstar’s stock price rose by 2.18% on May 26, the day the purchase of six solar power plants was announced, reaching $14.51 per share.

As reported, in March of this year, Kyivstar received approval from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) to purchase six solar power plants in the Lviv region: Energo-Postach-Plus LLC, Lightful, Sunlight Generation, Ternovytsia Solar, Energy Space, and Ternovytsia Solar Plus.

In the first quarter of 2026, Kyivstar increased its EBITDA by 28.5% to UAH 7.5 billion, while revenue grew by 31.3% to UAH 13.9 billion.

In 2025, the Kyivstar Group increased its EBITDA by 30% to UAH 27 billion, with revenue growing by 30.3% to UAH 48.2 billion. In particular, in the fourth quarter of last year, EBITDA increased by 23.1% to UAH 7.2 billion, with revenue growing by 30.1% to UAH 13.5 billion.

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Kyivstar has acquired six solar power plants in Lviv region

Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, announced the acquisition of six solar power plants (SPPs) with a total installed capacity of 105 MW in Lviv Oblast for 3.6 billion UAH, or $80.8 million, according to a company statement on Tuesday.

“Renewable energy is one of the key areas of Kyivstar’s investment portfolio, as it opens up opportunities for the further use of ‘green’ electricity to cover part of the company’s energy needs,” Kyivstar CEO and President Oleksandr Komarov is quoted as saying in the release.

Taking into account the initial purchase last December of the 13-MW “Sunwin 11” solar power plant for $3 million in the Zhytomyr region, Kyivstar’s total “green” generation capacity has grown to 118 MW, enabling the company to generate electricity equivalent to approximately 30% of its current annual consumption, the press release states.

“Electricity from the acquired solar power plant group will be fed into Ukraine’s unified power grid in accordance with current market and regulatory rules, which will allow Kyivstar to partially hedge against risks associated with fluctuations in electricity prices,” Kyivstar explained.

The mobile operator noted that these “green” projects also enable it to build a long-term energy consumption model, strengthen the country’s energy sector, and align with sustainable development goals.

“Kyivstar will continue to invest in initiatives that combine technological efficiency, compliance with ESG principles, and support for the Ukrainian economy,” the company noted.

As reported, in March of this year, Kyivstar received approval from the AMCU to purchase six solar power plants in the Lviv region: Energo-Postach-Plus LLC, Lightful, Sunlight Generation, Ternovytsia Solar, Energy Space, and Ternovytsia Solar Plus.

In the first quarter of 2026, Kyivstar increased its EBITDA by 28.5% to UAH 7.5 billion, while revenue grew by 31.3% to UAH 13.9 billion.

In 2025, the Kyivstar Group increased its EBITDA by 30% to UAH 27 billion, with revenue growing by 30.3% to UAH 48.2 billion. In particular, in the fourth quarter of last year, EBITDA increased by 23.1% to UAH 7.2 billion, with revenue growing by 30.1% to UAH 13.5 billion.

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