Veon (company)

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"VimpelCom" redirects here. For the Russian company founded in 1992, see OJSC VimpelCom.
Veon
Formerly called
 VimpelCom Ltd. (2009–2017)
Public
Traded as
Industry Telecommunications
Predecessor OJSC VimpelCom and Kyivstar
Founded 2009
Founder Dmitry Zimin,
Augie K. Fabela II
Headquarters Amsterdam, Netherlands
Area served
 Russia, Italy, Greece, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Laos, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic[1]
Key people
 Jean-Yves Charlier (CEO)Alexey Reznikovich[2] (Chairman of the Supervisory Board of OJSC VimpelCom)
Products Mobile telephony, mobile phones retailing, international telephony, broadband Internet, IPTV, city-wide Wi-Fi, domain name registrar and others
Revenue USD 9.78 billion (2016) [3]
Total assets $33.85 billion (2016)[4]
Number of employees
 66,000
Subsidiaries OJSC VimpelCom, KB Impuls, Kyivstar, Wind Telecom
Website vimpelcom.com

Veon (formerly VimpelCom Ltd.) is a global provider of telecommunication services founded in 2009, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Amsterdam. It is the sixth largest mobile network operator in the world by subscribers (as of April 2012)[5] with 214 million customers (as per December 31, 2012) in 18 countries.[1] Most of the company's revenue comes from Russia (39%) and Italy (31%).[6]

Veon's brands include Beeline (in Russia and CIS), Kyivstar (in Ukraine), Wind in Italy and Greece, Djezzy (in Algeria), Mobilink (in Pakistan), Banglalink (in Bangladesh), and others.

Owners[edit]

VimpelCom Ltd. Shareholder Structure:[7]

  • 47.9% of voting rights (56.2% Economic rights) owned by Altimo (Alfa Group)
  • 43.0% of voting rights (33.0% Economic rights) owned by Telenor
  • 9.1% (10.8%) – Minority Shareholders

Subsidiaries and shareholdings[edit]

History[edit]

Main articles: OJSC VimpelCom and Beeline (brand)
Dmitry Zimin, the founder and honorary president

Russian OJSC VimpelCom was founded in 1992 in Moscow when VimpelCom's co-founders, Dmitry Zimin[9] and American Augie K. Fabela II came together to pioneer the Russian mobile industry.[10] 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.

The company was one of the first mobile carriers in Russia. Its name derives from вымпел, the Russian word for pennon.

New York Stock Exchange[edit]

The old logo of OJSC VimpelCom during NYSE listing in 1996-2010

In 1996, OJSC VimpelCom, then the leader of Moscow cellular market (and automatically the largest mobile operator in Russia), became the first Russian company to have its shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange (with "VIP" as the ticker symbol).[11]

The company's main shareholders are Telenor, a Norwegian telecom conglomerate, and Alfa Group, a vehicle of Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman. They have been locked in a years-long struggle for control of this enterprise as well as other telecommunication assets in Eastern Europe.[12][13]

In 2008, OJSC VimpelCom obtained a 49.9% stake in Euroset, the largest mobile retailer in Russia and the CIS, which formerly belonged to its founder Yevgeny Chichvarkin.[11]

United holding company[edit]

See also: Kyivstar
Alexander Izosimov was the CEO of VimpelCom Ltd. until May 2011

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).[14]

In October 2010, the united company acquired from Naguib Sawiris two assets:[citation needed]

The company has 205 million customers across 20 countries (as of 31 December 2011).[11]

In February 2015, the government of Algeria acquired a 51% stake in Djezzy for US$2.6 billion.[15]

2015-present[edit]

In September 2014, VimpelCom agreed to sell its majority stake in Wind Mobile for $272 million to its minority owner Globalive.[16]

In the summer of 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 Uzbekistan, in exchange for access to that country’s telecommunications market.[17] The board of one part-owner, Norwegian telecom operator Telenor, has severed consulting ties with former VimpelCom chief executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas due to the continuing police investigation.[18]

In November 2015 the company CEO, Jo Lunder was arrested on corruption charges in Oslo, 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.[19]

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced 18-02-2016 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.[20][21]

On 27 February 2017, VimpelCom renamed itself Veon, named after the messaging platform that it had developed. The company explained that the re-branding was part of a shift towards marketing themselves as a technology company, and not solely a telecommunications firm.[22]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "VimpelCom". vimpelcom.com. 
  2. ^ "VimpelCom". Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2016. 
  3. ^ "VimpelCom on the Forbes Global 2000 List". Forbes. Retrieved 2 June 2016. 
  4. ^ http://www.forbes.com/companies/vimpelcom/
  5. ^ Pavliva, Halia (2012-04-12). "VimpelCom Rises as Orascom Rejects Fine, Files for Arbitration". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  6. ^ Леонид Коник (2012-04-26). "Altimo может потратить $1,5 млрд на увеличение доли в Vimpelcom Ltd. | comnews" (in Russian). Comnews.ru. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  7. ^ "VimpelCom". vimpelcom.com. 
  8. ^ a b http://www.vimpelcom.com/pr/fs.wbp
  9. ^ "Founders". About.beeline.ru. 1933-04-28. Retrieved 2013-09-22. 
  10. ^ "Founders". About.beeline.ru. Retrieved 2013-09-22. 
  11. ^ a b c "Fact Sheet(s)". Vimpelcom.com. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  12. ^ "Altimo of Russia steps up campaign against Telenor of Norway". New York Times. 2008-03-25. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  13. ^ White, Gregory L. (2009-05-20). "Norway Seeks Caution in Telenor Battle – WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  14. ^ Nicholson, Chris V. (2009-10-05). "Telenor and Alfa Reach Deal on VimpelCom – NYTimes.com". Dealbook.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  15. ^ "VimpelCom closes Djezzy deal with Algerian government". Developing Telecom. Retrieved 6 March 2017. 
  16. ^ "Vimpelcom to sell Wind Mobile stake to Canadian minority owner" (Press release). Reuters. 15 September 2014. 
  17. ^ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-29/u-s-seeks-to-grab-300-million-in-uzbek-telecom-bribery-probe
  18. ^ Telenor ends consultancy deal with former CEO due to Vimpelcom probe
  19. ^ "Former VimpelCom CEO seized at Oslo airport". The Local. 5 November 2015. 
  20. ^ Press Release: "VimpelCom to Pay $795 Million in Global Settlement for FCPA Violations", U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  21. ^ Elco Van Groningen, "Takilant Found Guilty of Taking Bribes From Telia, VimpelCom", Bloomberg (July 20, 2016). Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  22. ^ "Google and Facebook face an unlikely competitor in emerging markets: a telecom giant". Quartz. Retrieved 6 March 2017. 

External links[edit]

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