Seizure of Kyivstar’s shares may be lifted soon: American investments will come to company - media
The seizure of part of Kyivstar's corporate rights may be lifted in the near future. Instead of nationalization, the company expects to receive American investments.
According to Censor.NET,Mediasat writes about this, citing a publication by the Washington-based Capitol Intelligence Group (CI).
According to CI journalists, a group of leading American investment funds has expressed interest in taking over VEON. This Dutch holding is the owner of the largest Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar.
Earlier, the court seized all corporate rights in Ukraine belonging to Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven and Andrey Kosogov. However, VEON sold its Russian assets at the end of 2023 and completely exited the Russian market.
According to media reports, Mike Pompeo, a major player in Trump's team, former US Secretary of State and former head of the CIA, plays an important role in the process of foreign investment. In November last year, he was appointed as an independent non-executive director of Kyivstar.
"Speaking as an independent member of VEON's board, Pompeo told reporters that he welcomed the takeover offer by US private equity giants such as Blackstone, KKR and Carlyle, and that VEON's former controlling shareholder, sanctioned Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman, had completely withdrawn from VEON," the publication writes.
The Capitol Intelligence Group publication also claims that the takeover of VEON by these investment funds is welcomed by the US Secretary of Commerce, the President of the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The publication reminds that in parallel with the arrest of part of Kyivstar's shares, a similar case was initiated against Lifecell, but later, in this seemingly identical situation, the Ukrainian state lifted the arrest of Lifecell's corporate rights. As a result, the company successfully changed ownership and was taken over by the French holding company NJJ Capital.
"We now have sufficient grounds to assume that Kyivstar will follow the fate of Lifecell. Once the value of VEON is agreed upon by all stakeholders, the seizure of 47.85% of Kyivstar's corporate rights will be lifted. What does the sale of VEON to new owners mean for Ukraine and its citizens? The change of shareholders will not affect Kyivstar's subscribers or the operator itself," the journalists note.
VEON, the global digital operator that is the sole shareholder of Kyivstar, is currently challenging the seizure of Kyivstar's corporate rights in court.
In its submissions to the court, VEON argues that Friedman, Aven and Kosogov, who were targeted by the sanctions, do not own shares in VEON or Kyivstar.
