VEON

Ltd. A private company limited by shares is a class of private limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, certain Commonwealth countries, and the Republic of Ireland. It has shareholders with limit ...

(formerly VimpelCom Ltd.) is a Dutch-domiciled multinational telecommunication services company. It predominantly operates services in the regions of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. It is the 13th largest

mobile network operator A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a wireless service provider, wireless carrier, cellular company, or mobile network carrier, is a provider of wireless communications services that owns or controls all the elements necessary to sell ...

in the world by number of subscribers The company operates in nine markets including

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, Georgia,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

. VEON's brands include

Beeline A bee line is an idiom for the shortest route or a straight line between two points (see "as the crow flies"): bee line, bee-line, or beeline may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Beeline (brand), a telecommunications brand by VimpelCom Lt ...

Kyivstar Kyivstar ( uk, Київстар) is a Ukrainian telecommunications company, providing communication services and data transmission based on a broad range of fixed and mobile technologies, including 4G (LTE) in Ukraine. The Kyivstar mobile netw ...

, Djezzy,

Jazz Pakistan Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited, doing business as Jazz, ( ur, ) is a Pakistani mobile network and internet services provider formed by the merger of Mobilink and Warid Pakistan. It provides a range of services for prepaid and postpaid ...

Banglalink Banglalink Digital Communications Ltd., d.b.a. Banglalink ( bn, বাংলালিংক; previously Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Ltd.) is a Bangladeshi telecommunications company headquartered in Dhaka. It's the third-largest mobile networ ...

and others.

History

Russian

PJSC VimpelCom PJSC VimpelCom (russian: ПАО «ВымпелКом» or full name russian: ПАО «Вымпел-Коммуникации», ''PAO «Vympel-Kommunikatsii»'') is a Russian telecommunications company started in 1992 when its co-founders, Dr. Dmi ...

was founded in 1992 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

when VimpelCom's co-founders, Russian

Dmitry Zimin Dmitry Borisovich Zimin (russian: Дмитрий Борисович Зимин; 28 April 1933 – 22 December 2021) was a Russian radio scientist and businessman, who was the founder and honorary president of VimpelCom. From his retirement in t ...

and American Augie K. Fabela II came together to pioneer a new direction in the Russian mobile industry - their company was one of the first mobile carriers in Russia. Augie Fabela, who was then a young entrepreneur from the United States, and Zimin, who was a Russian scientist in his fifties, together launched the Beeline brand in 1993. Its name derives from ''вымпел'', the Russian word for

pennon A pennon, also known as a pennant or pendant, is a long narrow flag which is larger at the hoist than at the fly. It can have several shapes, such as triangular, tapering (square tail) or triangular swallowtail (forked tail), etc. In maritime ...

Stock Exchange Listing

VEON is listed on Nasdaq in New York and Euronext in Amsterdam. The company has thousands of shareholders from around the world.

Company History

VimpelCom Ltd. holding company was founded in 2009. In 2009, Telenor and Alfa agreed to merge their assets in VimpelCom and Kyivstar (Ukraine's number one wireless operator) with the aim of creating VimpelCom Ltd. (incorporated in

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

). In October 2010, the united company acquired from

Naguib Sawiris Naguib Onsi Sawiris (or Sawires; ar, نجيب اُنسى ساويرس ; ; born 15 June 1954) is an Egyptian billionaire businessman. Sawiris is chairman of Weather Investments's parent company, and the former chairman and CEO of Orascom Tele ...

two assets: * Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E., the largest mobile phone company in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

; *

Wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...

, the third largest mobile phone company in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. As of 31 December 2011, the company had 205 million customers across 20 countries. After several divestments and a business transformation, by summer 2017, VEON had a combined subscriber base of more than 200 million across 12 markets. The company announced that it would switch the listing of its ADS shares from the NYSE to the NASDAQ with trading beginning on 10 September 2013. In February 2015, the government of Algeria acquired a 51% stake in Djezzy for US$2.6 billion.

2015–present

In September 2014, VimpelCom agreed to sell its majority stake in Canadian mobile operator

Wind Mobile Freedom Mobile Inc. is a Canadian wireless telecommunications provider owned by Shaw Communications. It has 6% market share of Canada, mostly in urban areas of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. Freedom Mobile is the fourth-largest wirele ...

for $272 million to its minority owner

Globalive Globalive is a Canadian telecommunications and investment company founded in 1998. It is based in Toronto, Ontario. Globalive is best known for its telecommunication businesses like Freedom Mobile, WIND Mobile, Yak Communications, and OneConnect. ...

. In summer 2015, the United States Justice Department claimed that VimpelCom used a network of shell companies and phony consulting contracts to funnel bribes to a close relative of the president of

, in exchange for access to that country's telecommunications market. The board of one part-owner, Norwegian telecom operator Telenor, has severed consulting ties with its former chief executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas due to the continuing police investigation. In November 2015 the CEO,

Jo Lunder Jo, jo, JO, or J.O. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Jo'' (film), a 1972 French comedy * ''Jo'' (TV series), a French TV series *"Jo", a song by Goldfrapp from ''Tales of Us'' *"Jo", a song by Mr. Oizo from ''Lambs Anger'' * Jo a fictio ...

was arrested on corruption charges in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway. The case alleges that in exchange for an operating license, VimpelCom has funneled $57.5M to Takilant, a company linked to Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov. In February 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a global settlement along with the U.S. Department of Justice and Dutch regulators that requires telecommunications provider VimpelCom Ltd. to pay more than $795 million to resolve its violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) to win business in Uzbekistan. In February 2017, VimpelCom renamed itself VEON, named after the messaging platform that it had developed. The company explained that the re-branding, under the guidance of Peter Arnell, was part of a shift towards marketing themselves as a technology company, and not solely a telecommunications firm. In April 2017, VEON announced the listing and trading of shares of VEON on Euronext Amsterdam. In July 2017, VEON announced launching Personal Internet Platform named VEON in major markets: Italy, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Georgia. The platform provides contextualized, personalized internet experiences and opportunities, enabling customers to call, chat, read, watch, listen and share media, manage account (top up, opt in/out services). In March 2018, CEO Jean-Yves Charlier resigned and CEO duties were temporarily assumed by VEON's chair,

Ursula Burns Ursula M. Burns (born September 20, 1958) is an American businesswoman. Burns is mostly known for being the CEO of Xerox from 2009 to 2016, the first among black women to be a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and the first woman to succeed another a ...

. Burns was appointed as CEO, while remaining as chairman, in December 2018. In October 2019, VEON hired former ex-Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioğlu as COO of VEON Group, together with Sergi Herrero. In February 2020, Herrero and Terzioğlu were appointed co-CEOs, succeeding Burns. In June 2020,

Gennady Gazin Gennady Gazin (Russian: Геннадий Газин; born 28 January 1965) is a businessman and philanthropist of Ukrainian-Jewish descent. Education Gazin has an MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a master's degree in ele ...

succeeded Burns as chairman. Veon will buy remaining 15% shares in

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

from Abu Dhabi Group for 100pc ownership

Owners

Veon Shareholder Structure: * 47.9% of common and voting shares owned by

LetterOne LetterOne Holdings S.A. (LetterOne) is an international investment business based in Luxembourg. Its investments are focused on the Telecommunication, telecoms, technology and Energy industry, energy sectors through its two main business units, ...

( Alfa Group) * 43.8% of common and voting shares - Free Float (Minority Shareholders) * 8.3% of common and voting shares - The Stichting

Subsidiaries and shareholdings

(100%) **

Golden Telecom Golden Telecom is an internet services provider in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It was acquired by VimpelCom in 2007. History Founded in 1996 by the global corporation Global Telesystems ("GTS"). NYSE-listed Global T ...

and Golden Telecom Ukraine (Delaware, United States, acquired in 2007) ***

Corbina Telecom The California corbina (''Menticirrhus undulatus'') is marine demersal fish in the croaker family. It can often be found along sandy beaches and in shallow bays. This species travels in small groups along the surf zone in a few inches of water ...

(acquired in 2006) *** Cityline (ISP) (acquired in 2001) *** Global TeleSystems (GTS), formerly San Francisco Moscow Teleport (SFMT), founded in 1983 by VNIIPAS and an American team which included George Soros **** EDN Sovintel (Soviet-American joint venture company founded in 1990, acquired in 2001) **** SovAm (Soviet-American) Teleport (founded in 1990 by SFMT) ***** GlasNet ***** Russia-On-Line (acquired in 1999) *

(100%) * Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. (51.7%)http://www.vimpelcom.com/pr/fs.wbp ** SLTMobitel (44.98%) *

Euroset Euroset (russian: Евросеть) was Russia's largest mobile phone retailer, with over 5,000 stores across Russia and Belarus. In 2006, the company controlled 37% of the Russian mobile retail market and in 2010 it employed some 27,000 people. I ...

(50%) *

VEON Wholesale Services VEON Ltd. (formerly VimpelCom Ltd.) is a Dutch-domiciled multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications, telecommunication services company. It predominantly operates services in the regions of Asia, Africa and Europe. It is the 13t ...

(100%) *

(100%) * E-Mobile (100%)

References

External links

*
VEON App Launched
{{Major telecommunications companies VEON Telecommunications companies of the Netherlands Holding companies of the Netherlands Internet service providers of the Netherlands Mobile phone companies of the Netherlands Telenor Multinational companies headquartered in the Netherlands Companies based in Amsterdam Holding companies established in 2009 Telecommunications companies established in 2009 2009 establishments in the Netherlands Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Nasdaq Alfa Group Dutch brands