Oleksandr Komarov, Kyivstar: “We need more focus on the domestic investor”
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On October 12, Oleksandr Komarov, president of Kyivstar, took part in a panel discussion at the Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF). Komarov commented on the information “regarding the seizure of assets” of Kyivstar, noting that the company did not receive any court decision on this matter.
As Oleksandr Komarov explained, Kyivstar stopped paying dividends to its joint-stock company VEON two years ago. And a year ago, the Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine prohibited any actions with Kyivstar shares in order to prevent access to them by persons subject to sanctions.
According to the president of Kyivstar, the information made public by state authorities does not legally affect the company’s activities, but instead causes reputational damage. Moreover, this is happening against the background of VEON’s announcement to withdraw from the Russian market.
“Shaming an internal investor who works absolutely transparently and legally, and over the past three years has invested almost 18 billion hryvnias in Ukraine, First of all – a negative signal for external investors, – Oleksandr Komarov believes. –
Attention, predictability and constructive dialogue with local investors are of particular importance, because every business that works and pays taxes in Ukraine is getting closer to victory.”
Oleksandr Komarov reminded that Kyivstar planned to invest 600 million dollars in Ukraine in the next three years in the restoration of destroyed base stations, construction of 4G, coverage of highways with high-speed Internet.
“Restoring communications in the de-occupied territories will require hundreds of millions of dollars,” Oleksandr Komarov believes. “For example, our network in Avdiivka was completely destroyed and we will have to rebuild it “from scratch.”
Commenting on the situation with the Russian shareholders of VEON, Komarov drew attention to the fact that they are minority owners of shares of the Luxembourg company LetterOne, which does not have a controlling influence on VEON, as it is also a minority shareholder.
Meanwhile, other shareholders include hundreds of corporate institutions from the USA and Europe, in particular the American investment funds Sah Capital, Lingotto Investment Management, City Group and other. At the same time, none of the shareholders has any control over either Kyivstar or VEON.
Help about Kyivstar
Kyivstar is the largest Ukrainian electronic communications operator, which as of June 2023 served 24.1 million mobile subscribers and more than 1.1 million “Home Internet” subscribers.
The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, services for cyber protection, digital TV, etc.
Kyivstar helps subscribers, society and the country overcome the difficulties of wartime. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the company has allocated more than UAH 1.4 billion in aid to the state, the military, society, and subscribers.
The sole shareholder of Kyivstar is the international VEON Group. The Group’s shares are freely traded on the NASDAQ (New York) and Euronext (Amsterdam) stock exchanges.
Kyivstar has been working in Ukraine for more than 25 years and is recognized as the largest taxpayer in the telecom market, the best employer and a socially responsible company.
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