OREANDA-NEWS. March 10, 2011. “VimpelCom Ltd.” (“VimpelCom” or the “Company”) (NYSE: VIP), a leading international provider of telecommunications services, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Millicom Holding Laos B.V., a company incorporated in the Netherlands (“Millicom”). Millicom holds a 78% interest in Millicom Lao Co., Ltd. a cellular telecom operator with operations in the Lao PDR. VimpelCom paid appr. USD 65 million for the equity and appr. USD 23 million for the  repayment of debt, repayment of shareholder loan and intra-group indebtedness. The remaining 22% of Millicom Lao Co., Ltd. is owned by the Government of the Lao PDR. The agreement to acquire Millicom was signed in September 16, 2009, but completion of the transaction was delayed until it received the endorsement of the Lao government.

Alexander Izosimov, Chief Executive Officer of VimpelCom, commented: “We are pleased to announce the closing of our transaction in Laos. South-East Asia remains an important part of VimpelCom’s international expansion strategy. The telecommunications market in South-East Asia has considerable potential, and we are confident in our ability to take advantage of the opportunities this region has to offer”.