Seizure of Kyivstar shares may be lifted in the near future: American investments will come to company - media

The seizure of part of the corporate rights of Kyivstar may be lifted in the near future. Instead of nationalization, the company is expected to receive American investments.

This is reported by Mediasat, referring to the publication of the Washington publication Capitol Intelligence Group (CI).

As noted by CI journalists, a group of leading American investment funds has expressed interest in acquiring VEON. Namely, 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, Petr Aven and Andrey Kosogov. But VEON sold its russian assets at the end of 2023 and completely withdrew from the russian market.

According to media reports, an important role in the process of foreign investment is played by Mike Pompeo, a serious player in the Trump team, former US Secretary of State and former head of the CIA. In November last year, he took up the position of independent non-executive director of Kyivstar.

"Speaking as an independent member of the VEON board, Pompeo told reporters that he welcomes the offer to take over the company by such American private equity giants as Blackstone, KKR and Carlyle, and that VEON's former controlling shareholder, sanctioned russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman, has completely exited VEON," the publication writes.

The Capitol Intelligence Group publication also claims that the takeover of VEON by the aforementioned 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 seizure 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 seizure of Lifecell's corporate rights. As a result, the company successfully changed ownership and transferred to the French holding company NJJ Capital.

"Now we have enough reason to assume that Kyivstar will repeat the fate of Lifecell. After the value of VEON is agreed upon between all interested parties, 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 in the composition of shareholders will not affect Kyivstar subscribers or the operator itself in any way," the journalists note.

We remind you that currently the global digital operator VEON, which is the sole shareholder of Kyivstar, is challenging the seizure of Kyivstar's corporate rights in court.

In its court filings, VEON claims that Fridman, Aven, and Kosogov, who were sanctioned, do not own shares in VEON or Kyivstar.