OREANDA-NEWS. VimpelCom Ltd. (“VimpelCom”, “Company” or “Group”) (NASDAQ: VIP), a leading global provider of telecommunications services, headquartered in Amsterdam, today announces that Dr. Stephen Collins has been appointed Group Chief Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Officer. 

Stephen was most recently Vice President, Corporate Affairs for Microsoft EMEA. From 2005 - 2011 he was worldwide Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs for Skype Communications Sarl, overseeing its regulatory strategy and supporting its subsequent acquisition by Microsoft Corporation in October 2011. From 2000 – 2005 he was Director of International Public Policy at Yahoo!

He has sat on the boards of the International Communications Roundtable (Brussels); The Internet Service Providers’ Association in the UK; The Asia Internet Coalition (Hong Kong); and the VON EU Coalition (Brussels). Stephen recently held the position of President of the European Digital Media Association in Brussels and has been a board member of Digital Europe. He holds three degrees in International Relations and Political Science, including a PhD from the University of Birmingham. 

Commenting on the appointment, VimpelCom CEO, Jean-Yves Charlier, said: “We are delighted that Stephen has joined us. His appointment underpins our strong focus on having a robust corporate and regulatory affairs function across the Group. We look forward to having his experience on the team as we continue to strengthen this key function.”
VimpelCom, an international telecoms company operating in 14 countries and headquartered in Amsterdam, is one of the world’s largest integrated telecommunications services operators providing voice and data services through a range of traditional and broadband mobile and fixed technologies in Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe. VimpelCom’s operations around the globe cover territory with a total population of approximately 740 million people. VimpelCom provides services under the “Beeline”, “Kyivstar”, “WIND”, “Mobilink”, “banglalink”, “Telecel”, and “Djezzy” brands. As of June 30, 2015 VimpelCom had 213 million mobile customers and 6 million fixed-line broadband customers on a combined basis. VimpelCom is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol (VIP).