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.
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak held a meeting with the recently independent member of the supervisory board of Kyivstar, former U.S. Secretary of State and ex-CIA chief Mike Pompeo, who arrived in Kiev, the press service of the Office of the Head of State said on Friday evening.
It is noted that Yermak thanked the President of the United States, both houses and parties of the United States Congress and the entire American society for the strong support of Ukraine. He also expressed hope for the continuation of US support, because it is based on common democratic values and respect for international law, which the Ukrainian people defend.
The head of the Office of the President noted the need to send a clear signal to Russia that by its aggression it cannot violate the sovereignty of independent states and determine the fate of other free nations.
Pompeo noted after joining Kyivstar’s nabsociety board that talking about its nationalization would be a step backward because Ukraine will need a huge amount of private sector investment, foreign direct investment, and support from Europe and the private sector in the United States to overcome the effects of the war.
“If property rights, including those of shareholders in the United States, are not protected and companies that benefit the Ukrainian people are not preserved, it would be a strategic mistake for Ukraine and would make rebuilding Ukraine and supporting that country in the years ahead much more difficult and expensive and capital flows much more limited,” the former U.S. secretary of state emphasized.
Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President, KYIVSTAR, MIKE POMPEO
Ukrainian business demonstrates resilience in the face of a full-scale war and finds new tools for development. The share of companies operating at full capacity has increased, and they have stopped losing clients and customers, which indicates that business activity stabilized in 2023. More and more Ukrainian companies are finding a source of growth in entering foreign markets.
These data are published in the annual Kyivstar Business survey, which is based on a survey of business representatives of various sizes and industries.
“Kyivstar works closely with Ukrainian business, being a reliable partner and provider of innovative services. To offer relevant solutions, we are constantly researching changes in the business environment and the transformation of our partners’ behavior. The results of this survey show a trend towards increased business activity, as well as more intensive implementation of business innovations, revision of strategies and portfolio of goods and services,” comments Kostiantyn Vechir, B2B Director of Kyivstar.
The overall business situation has improved. Most of the surveyed companies (62%) are operating at full capacity, another 24% are operating with some restrictions, and 5% have closed. The reasons for the shutdown varied. One of the reasons mentioned by respondents was the mobilization of employees. However, some owners and managers managed to run their companies even from the ranks of the Armed Forces.
More and more companies are entering foreign markets. Over the year, Ukrainian business has managed to strengthen international cooperation. Thus, over the past year, the number of companies working with foreign markets increased from 4% to 17%. These are mainly representatives of IT and industrial production.
Employees are returning to their offices. Almost 50% of companies worked completely offline in 2023. The hybrid format of work remains important (32%), but is no longer as popular as before. Only 18% of companies worked entirely remotely within Ukraine, and 3% from abroad.
Companies’ profitability is low, but there is progress. 32% of surveyed companies reported an increase in profits, compared to only 20% in 2022. At the same time, 48% of businesses have reduced their profits, although in 2022 58% said this. Financial stability was maintained by 6% of companies that did not record any changes in profits.
Businesses continue to adapt their work processes. The most popular changes include redistributing employees’ responsibilities (38%), short-term planning (31%), and changing usual business processes (29%). While 30% of companies were forced to reduce staff, 14% of companies expanded their staff.
Companies are actively using new technologies to optimize their operations. The most frequently mentioned tools by business representatives include artificial intelligence, cloud services for working with documents (for example, Microsoft 365), CRM, and more.
Read more about the survey results on Kyivstar Business Hub.
Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecommunications operator, reported difficulties with voice communication and the use of its mobile app in a number of cities in western and southern Ukraine on Wednesday morning.
“Dear subscribers, we are aware that there are currently difficulties with voice communication and the mobile application in a number of cities in western and southern Ukraine. The company’s specialists are working to restore services. We are doing our best to fix the technical issues as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience,” the company said in a post on Facebook.
Users write in the comments under the post that there is no connection in Lviv, and it is lost in Rivne and Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad and Sumy regions. At the same time, everything is working in Ternopil and Vinnytsia. A number of users also reported problems with “home internet” in Dnipro.
Earlier, Kyivstar restored high-speed mobile Internet in the Kyiv and Kharkiv subways. The company said that it plans to achieve full stabilization in the provision of services by the end of the week.
After a disruption in the early morning hours of December 12 caused by a large-scale cyberattack, Kyivstar began restoring voice services in the evening of December 13, and within a day mobile internet was back online in some regions, with the company announcing its full restoration across the country on the evening of December 15.
On December 17, Kivestar resumed providing voice services, including roaming, mobile data, Home Internet, virtual private network (VPN) services and started restoring access to M2M (Machine-to-Machine) services for business customers. Kyivstar restored access to SMS services, including international roaming, and M2M services on 18 December.
As of 10:00 a.m. on December 19, Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecom operator, restored high-speed mobile internet in the Kyiv subway, and earlier mobile internet was restored in the Kharkiv subway, the company’s press service said on Tuesday.
“The My Kyivstar information system has been restored, where subscribers can view their account balances. Kyivstar’s telecom network has almost entered the stabilization period,” the statement said.
On the territory controlled by Ukraine, 99% of the base stations are in working order, and all basic services are available to customers: communication and mobile Internet services, SMS, international voice roaming services, etc., the mobile operator’s press service said.
In addition, Kyivstar stores have restored most services.
It is noted that Kyivstar continues to improve the Home Internet service in Kyiv and a number of other places, and also plans to gradually remove restrictions on mobile Internet speeds in the near future.
“Kyivstar specialists are working on the launch of high-speed mobile Internet in roaming and plan to launch this service for Ukrainian subscribers in Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and a number of other countries in the near future,” the company said in a statement.
To stabilize the services, the company has engaged all available technical staff, as well as international partners from Sweden, Ireland, the United States, China, Finland and other countries, the press service said.
Earlier it was reported that Kyivstar expects to achieve full stabilization in the provision of services by the end of the week.
After a failure in the early morning hours of December 12 caused by a large-scale cyberattack, Kyivstar began restoring voice services in the evening of December 13, the company’s mobile Internet service started working again in some regions a day later, and the company announced its full restoration in the country on the evening of December 15.
On December 17, Kivestar resumed providing voice services, including roaming, mobile data, Home Internet, virtual private network (VPN) services and started restoring access to M2M (Machine-to-Machine) services for business customers. Kyivstar restored access to SMS services, including international roaming, and M2M services on 18 December.
As of 11:00 a.m. on Monday, December 18, Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecommunications operator, has restored access to SMS services, including international roaming, the company’s press service said.
“Customers also have access to voice communication services, mobile data transmission, and Home Internet services. Access to M2M services for business customers has been restored,” the statement said.
It is noted that in some settlements, in particular in Kyiv, there are still local difficulties with the availability of Home Internet.
“The company has engaged all available personnel, including those from other regions and oblasts, to restore the service as soon as possible,” the mobile operator said.
It is noted that the technical work is being carried out gradually, in compliance with all safety requirements.
Kyivstar also reminded that if the SIM card is not registered in the network, you need to restart the phone or turn on and off the airplane mode. In addition, it helps to select the Kyivstar network in the phone settings.
Bonuses and compensations will be credited to subscribers who could not use communication services due to the hacker attack only after the network is fully stabilized and all services are launched. Please wait for official information from the company, Kyivstar assured.
As reported, after a failure in the early morning hours of December 12 caused by a large-scale cyberattack, Kyivstar began restoring voice services in the evening of December 13, the company’s mobile Internet started working again in some regions a day later, and the company announced its full restoration in the country in the evening of December 15.
