Exclusive: Veon employees in bomb shelters keep Ukraine’s biggest mobile network up, CEO says

The emblem of Kyivstar, one in every of Ukraine’s largest telecoms firm, is pictured on the firm’s headquarters in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 3, 2016. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photograph

STOCKHOLM/AMSTERDAM, March 18 (Reuters) – Hundreds of telecom operator Veon workers are working from bomb shelters in Ukraine and shifting gear to frame areas to keep up a digital lifeline for refugees fleeing the warfare, the corporate’s chief govt mentioned on Friday.

Their work has helped some 85% of Veon’s telecom community stay operational in Ukraine since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, Veon CEO Kaan Terzioglu mentioned in an unique interview with Reuters. However additional dangers loom each from electrical energy shortages and the battle itself.

Amsterdam-listed Veon operates Ukraine’s greatest mobile phone supplier below the identify Kyivstar with 4,000 workers and a 25% market share.

Terzioglu, who spoke by Zoom convention name from the Netherlands, described how the corporate is dealing with warfare, sanctions and monetary considerations on the similar time.

Terzioglu supplied a lens by way of which one firm is offering a cellphone community to a quickly spreading diaspora.

Workers “are virtually understanding of shelters and the second they’ve the chance, they exit to the sphere to do upkeep,” Terzioglu mentioned.

The components of the community which aren’t working had been principally due to lack of energy and should not being focused by Russian forces, he mentioned. Getting these components again up required staff to run gasoline to turbines, which Terioglu described as “one of the crucial logistically heavy jobs that our persons are making an attempt to do.”

Russia’s assault, which Moscow calls a “particular operation” to demilitarize the nation, has killed a whole bunch of civilians, decreased metropolis areas to rubble and sparked a humanitarian disaster. Russia denies focusing on civilians within the nation of about 44 million.

Greater than 3.2 million folks have fled and a further 2 million have been displaced internally, United Nations information confirmed.

On the idea of mobile phone information, Terzioglu estimated that 4 million refugees had left, and 10 million had been displaced.

Other than opening up its places of work as refugee shelters, Veon has additionally topped up cellular accounts with out cost, mentioned Terzioglu, who grew to become Veon’s group CEO final July. In his earlier job as Turkcell CEO he grappled with the Syrian refugee disaster.

Veon has additionally acquired assist from American, Chinese language and European firms within the tech and telecom trade. Whereas operators corresponding to Orange, Tele2 and Vodafone have waived off interconnection and roaming expenses, gear makers corresponding to Huawei and ZTE have been serving to in community upkeep. These and corporations together with Ericsson, Nokia, Microsoft and Oracle have made a “heroic effort” to maintain the networks operating, Terzioglu mentioned.

RUSSIAN CONNECTION

Veon additionally owns the second-largest telecom community in Russia, working below the identify of Beeline, its most worthwhile market. Which means Veon should navigate the influence of sanctions and political considerations on each side of the border.

Veon has about 29,000 workers in Russia and the corporate has taken steps to function its Ukraine and Russian companies as separate from each other.

The corporate has additionally moved rapidly to distance itself from Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman, whose funding car LetterOne holds a 47.9% stake in Veon, and a further 8.3% financial stake by way of a Dutch basis.

The European Union imposed sanctions on Fridman on Feb. 28, a choice he mentioned he would battle.

Terzioglu mentioned Fridman, who resigned from Veon’s board Feb. 28 and LetterOne’s board on March 3, now “has no financial curiosity in LetterOne.”

LetterOne, which didn’t reply to a request for remark, mentioned March 3 that Fridman’s property had been frozen and he had been stripped of shareholder rights.

Terzioglu mentioned he couldn’t speculate as as to if the corporate may ultimately face EU sanctions or nationalization by the Russian authorities, however he hoped that it could be excluded on humanitarian grounds.

“We’ll do our greatest to place it as a service that’s important,” he mentioned.

Veon additionally faces monetary worries, with its shares down 56% within the yr thus far, and its U.S. greenback denominated debt – $5.4 billion price on the finish of 2021 – buying and selling at distressed ranges.

On March 4, Fitch downgraded the corporate’s credit score scores to junk standing, saying that collectively Russia and Ukraine accounted for 62% of 2021 earnings earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $3.3 billion.

Russian capital controls and the warfare meant the corporate might not have the ability to transfer funds in or out of both nation.

The corporate has issued a number of updates to reassure traders it stays liquid, with $2.1 billion in money as of the top of February, of which $1.5 billion is within the Netherlands.

Terzioglu mentioned he was conscious of reports of a group of bondholders seeking talks and welcomed the chance to handle them, although none have reached the corporate thus far.

“Having them organized offers us the chance to elucidate why they shouldn’t be fearful, and that we’re nicely funded by way of assembly our obligations,” he mentioned.

Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; enhancing by Kenneth Li and Grant McCool

: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.