Type Public Number of employees 66,000 | Industry Telecommunications Founded 2009 | |
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Traded as NASDAQ: VIP
NASDAQ-100 Component Predecessor OJSC VimpelCom and Kyivstar Founder Dmitry Zimin,
Augie K. Fabela II Area served Russia, Italy, Greece, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Laos, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic Stock price VEON (NASDAQ) US$ 3.91 -0.17 (-4.17%)3 Apr, 12:50 PM GMT-4 - Disclaimer Formerly called VimpelCom Ltd. (2009–2017) CEO Jean-Yves Charlier (13 Apr 2015–) Headquarters North Holland, Netherlands Subsidiaries PJSC VimpelCom, WIND, Mobilink, Kyivstar Profiles | ||
Veon (formerly VimpelCom Ltd.) is a global provider of telecommunication services founded in 2009, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Amsterdam. It is the sixth largest mobile network operator in the world by subscribers (as of April 2012) with 214 million customers (as per December 31, 2012) in 18 countries. Most of the company's revenue comes from Russia (39%) and Italy (31%).
Contents
- Owners
- Subsidiaries and shareholdings
- History
- New York Stock Exchange
- United holding company
- 2015 present
- References
Veon's brands include Beeline (in Russia and CIS), Kyivstar (in Ukraine), Wind in Italy and Greece, Djezzy (in Algeria), Mobilink (in Pakistan), Banglalink (in Bangladesh), and others.
Owners
VimpelCom Ltd. Shareholder Structure:
Subsidiaries and shareholdings
History
Russian OJSC VimpelCom was founded in 1992 in Moscow when VimpelCom's co-founders, Dmitry Zimin and American Augie K. Fabela II came together to pioneer the Russian mobile industry. Augie Fabela, who was then a young entrepreneur from the United States, and Zimin, who was a Russian scientist in his fifties, together launched the Beeline brand in 1993.
The company was one of the first mobile carriers in Russia. Its name derives from вымпел, the Russian word for pennon.
New York Stock Exchange
In 1996, OJSC VimpelCom, then the leader of Moscow cellular market (and automatically the largest mobile operator in Russia), became the first Russian company to have its shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange (with "VIP" as the ticker symbol).
The company's main shareholders are Telenor, a Norwegian telecom conglomerate, and Alfa Group, a vehicle of Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman. They have been locked in a years-long struggle for control of this enterprise as well as other telecommunication assets in Eastern Europe.
In 2008, OJSC VimpelCom obtained a 49.9% stake in Euroset, the largest mobile retailer in Russia and the CIS, which formerly belonged to its founder Yevgeny Chichvarkin.
United holding company
VimpelCom Ltd. holding company was founded in 2009. In 2009, Telenor and Alfa agreed to merge their assets in VimpelCom and Kyivstar (Ukraine's number one wireless operator) with the aim of creating VimpelCom Ltd. (incorporated in Bermuda).
In October 2010, the united company acquired from Naguib Sawiris two assets:
The company has 205 million customers across 20 countries (as of 31 December 2011).
In February 2015, the government of Algeria acquired a 51% stake in Djezzy for US$2.6 billion.
2015-present
In September 2014, VimpelCom agreed to sell its majority stake in Wind Mobile for $272 million to its minority owner Globalive.
In the summer of 2015, the United States Justice Department claimed that VimpelCom used a network of shell companies and phony consulting contracts to funnel bribes to a close relative of the president of Uzbekistan, in exchange for access to that country’s telecommunications market. The board of one part-owner, Norwegian telecom operator Telenor, has severed consulting ties with former VimpelCom chief executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas due to the continuing police investigation.
In November 2015 the company CEO, Jo Lunder was arrested on corruption charges in Oslo, Norway. The case alleges that in exchange for an operating license, VimpelCom has funneled $57.5M to Takilant, a company linked to Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced 18-02-2016 a global settlement along with the U.S. Department of Justice and Dutch regulators that requires telecommunications provider VimpelCom Ltd. to pay more than $795 million to resolve its violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) to win business in Uzbekistan.
On 27 February 2017, VimpelCom renamed itself Veon, named after the messaging platform that it had developed. The company explained that the re-branding was part of a shift towards marketing themselves as a technology company, and not solely a telecommunications firm.