Vimpelcom sells business in Kazakhstan to VEON for 54 bln rubles

MOSCOW. May 2 (Interfax) - The sale of Vimpelcom's business in Kazakhstan to VEON was valued at 54 billion rubles, with the funds factored in as a repayment of the parent company's loans to the operator.

According to Vimpelcom's financial reporting, its subsidiary VEON Eurasia S.a r.l. on December 6, 2022 transferred to VEON Holdings B.V. (a subsidiary of VEON Ltd.) a 75% stake in VIP Kazakhstan Holding AG, which owned 100% of shares in KaR-Tel LLP and indirectly controlled 100% of shares in KazEuroMobile LLP (operating entities in Kazakhstan) in exchange for a consideration of 54 billion rubles.

The report also states that on February 15, 2023 the consideration from VEON Holdings B.V. in the amount of 54 billion rubles was repaid in full by offsetting payment of loans previously received from VEON Holdings B.V. and accrued interest on them. As a result of the offset, the loans received from VEON Holdings B.V. in the amount of RUB 30 billion and RUB 13.27 billion, as well as the outstanding interest on them, were fully repaid. The outstanding principal balance on the loan dated December 17, 2020 in the amount of 7.29 billion rubles received from VEON Holdings B.V. was 1.06 billion rubles. In February 2023, the parties also agreed to postpone the payment dates of all current and outstanding and subsequent interest on the loan to June 27, 2023.

In March 2022, Vimpelcom also sold assets in Kyrgyzstan to the parent company for $12.1 million (equivalent to 1.4 billion rubles at March 10, 2022 Central Bank exchange rate). In particular, 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, which, in turn, owns 100% of shares in Sky Mobile LLC and Balance KG LLC (subsidiaries and operating organizations in Kyrgyzstan).

Earlier, assets in Uzbekistan were also transferred to the Dutch holding. In September 2021 Vimpelcom carried out a reorganization, having spun off the Uzbek business into the separate legal entity VEON UZB LLC, shares in the capital of which were distributed among shareholders of Vimpelcom - VEON entities. Following the reorganization, VEON Ltd. now owns the net assets of Vimpelcom Group's operations in Uzbekistan.