OREANDA-NEWS. June 28, 2011. VimpelCom Ltd. (“VimpelCom” or the “Company”) (NYSE: VIP), announced that at its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) held today in Amsterdam shareholders elected a new Supervisory Board. Holders of approximately 91.3% of the Company's shares were represented at the AGM.

Augie K. Fabela II, Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of VimpelCom, was elected to serve on the Supervisory Board and was unanimously appointed by the Supervisory Board as its new Chairman.  Mr. Fabela succeeds Jo O. Lunder, who, as previously announced, will become CEO of VimpelCom effective July 1, 2011.

Joining Mr. Fabela on the Supervisory Board are Mikhail M. Fridman, Kjell-Morten Johnsen, Dr. Hans-Peter Kohlhammer, Leonid R. Novoselsky, Alexey M. Reznikovich, Ole-Bjorn Sjulstad, Jan-Edvard Thygesen and Andrei Baranov.

Mr. Fabela stated, “I am honored to be elected to the position of chairman of VimpelCom Ltd. Having been closely involved in the Company’s development for nearly 20 years, I am proud of VimpelCom’s accomplishments and excited about our future as a leading global telecommunications company.  I look forward to working closely with Jo Lunder and our Supervisory Board to integrate Wind Telecom and to deliver value to all our shareholders.”

Mr. Fabela co-founded OJSC VimpelCom in 1992 and served as Chairman until 2003. In 1996, Mr. Fabela led VimpelCom to become the first Russian company to list its shares on the NYSE. As Chairman, Mr. Fabela brought both Telenor and Alfa Group into OJSC VimpelCom as strategic shareholders. In 2003, Mr. Fabela was appointed Chairman Emeritus and in that position has served as an advisor to the Company’s Board and management on strategic issues, including the Wind Telecom combination.

For more information about the Company’s Board of Directors and related biographies, please see VimpelCom’s web site, www.vimpelcom.com in the “Corporate Profile/Leadership” section.

VimpelCom is one of the world’s largest integrated telecommunications services operators offering a wide range of wireless, fixed, and broadband services in Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic and Canada.  VimpelCom’s operations around the globe cover territory with a total population of approximately 868 million people.  VimpelCom provides services under the "Beeline", "Kyivstar", "djuice", “Wind”, "Infostrada" “Mobilink”, “Leo”, “Banglalink”, “Telecel”, and “Djezzy” brands. As of March 31, 2011 VimpelCom had 186 million mobile subscribers. VimpelCom is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (VIP).