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MOSCOW, Oct 9 The Dutch telecommunications holding Veon announced the completion of its exit from Russia and the closing of the deal to sell VimpelCom to its top management. The Russian company clarifies that the deal does not imply the possibility of a buyback — VimpelCom has finally left the Veon group.
“Veon… today announced that it has completed its exit from Russia, closing a deal to sell the Russian business to a group of VimpelCom top managers led by CEO Alexander Torbakhov,” Veon said in a statement.
«A group of Russian top managers of PJSC VimpelCom, led by General Director Alexander Torbakhov, closed a deal to buy out the company from the Veon group. Thus, PJSC VimpelCom becomes a completely Russian company… The terms of the deal do not imply the possibility of a buyback and record the company’s final exit from the Veon group,” VimpelCom said in a statement.
As part of the transaction, the company, according to its own estimates, acquired over 96% of all bonds of the Veon group in Russia.
Veon announced its departure from Russia in November 2022. Soon after this, VimpelCom said that the company would be bought out by its top management, led by CEO Alexander Torbakhov, for 130 billion rubles. The Russian Federation Legal Commission for Foreign Investments approved the sale subject to the repurchase of at least 90% of the bonds issued by Veon in favor of Russian investors. Veon also reported that the transfer of VimpelCom to Russian top management according to the plan will be completed no later than June 1 of this year.
In July 2023, VimpelCom announced that it would retain the right to use the name and of the Beeline brand after the deal to transfer the company to Russian top management takes place. Later, in September, Veon said that it expected to complete all formalities related to the sale of Russian assets before the bonds mature on October 13.
Veon Ltd. unites operators providing services in a number of countries, including Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Georgia.
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