OREANDA-NEWS The Russian mobile operator Vimpelcom (operating under the Beeline brand) has sold its business in Kazakhstan to its parent company, the Dutch telecommunications holding Veon, for 54 billion rubles. This was reported by Interfax with reference to Vimpelcom's IFRS reporting published on April 28, 2023.

On December 6, 2022, Vimpelcom's subsidiary Veon Eurasia S.a.r.l. transferred 75% of the shares of VIP Kazakhstan Holding AG (it is a "daughter" of the Russian operator, which owned Kar-tel LLP and indirectly owned Kazevromobile LLP in operating organizations in Kazakhstan) Veon Holdings B.V. (a subsidiary of Veon Ltd.) in exchange for a reward of 54 billion rubles, according to Vimpelcom's reporting. At the same time, the funds were credited as repayment of loans owed by the parent company to the operator.

Vimpelcom's consolidated revenue for 2022 under IFRS decreased by 1.4% to RUB 286.7 billion, EBITDA increased by 9% to RUB 118.4 billion, the company previously reported.

The deal on the sale of VIP Kazakhstan Holding AG to Veon structures is not the first step in the restructuring of the operator's assets. In September 2021 Vimpelcom reorganized, as a result of which it separated the Uzbek business into a separate legal entity – Veon Uzb LLC, whose shares in the capital were distributed among the shareholders of PJSC Vimpelcom. After the reorganization was completed, the assets in Uzbekistan previously owned by Vimpelcom Group were transferred to Veon Ltd.

In March 2022, Vimpelcom also announced the sale of an asset in Kyrgyzstan for 1.4 billion rubles. Veon Eurasia S.a.r.l. transferred to Veon Holdings B.V. 50.1% of the shares of Kyrgyzstan Holding AG, which owns 100% of the shares of Menacrest AG (owns the operating organizations in Kyrgyzstan, Sky Mobile LLC and Balance KG LLC).