VimpelCom celebrates 20 year listing in the US

AMSTERDAM, Nov. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- VimpelCom VIP will today ring the closing bell at NASDAQ, marking 20 years since it first listed in the United States.

VimpelCom first listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1996, before transferring across to the NASDAQ to take its place alongside the world's most innovative and successful technology companies. Over the last 20 years, the pioneering spirit of the company saw it lead the development of new technologies in its markets. Today, VimpelCom is one of the world's leading telecoms and technology companies with more than 200 million customers across 14 markets in Europe, Eurasia, Africa and Asia.

Jean-Yves Charlier, Chief Executive Officer of VimpelCom, said: "This is an exciting milestone that VimpelCom takes immense pride in. The pioneering spirit that has underpinned the successes of the last 20 years continues to guide us as we drive forward our ambitious journey to transform into a digital technology leader. The turnaround progress we have made over the last 15 months is a strong demonstration that we are firmly on track."

In line with its entrepreneurial heritage, VimpelCom has made its move into the digital sphere in one of the most ambitious transformation programs in the industry. Earlier this year, VimpelCom announced a major move to re-engineer its entire IT infrastructure to a single, global digital stack which will accelerate product and service development to meet the future digital needs of its customers, and is piloting a new digital customer engagement platform which aims to revolutionize how it interacts with its customers.

VimpelCom has also made significant progress in streamlining its businesses, closing a joint venture  in Italy and merger in Pakistan where it now has market-leading positions. It is globalizing and simplifying its Group-wide processes and has embedded a robust governance and compliance model across the organization that ensures the Group continues to operate to the highest international standards.

Augie Fabela, co-founder and chairman emeritus, said: "With the same entrepreneurial zeal upon which we founded the company 24 years ago, VimpelCom is disrupting an entire industry with its ambitious digital transformation strategy. Technology pioneers and entrepreneurs the world over dream of being publicly traded on NASDAQ here in the great city of New York – we are as honored and proud today as when we rang our first opening bell 20 years ago today, and every one of our employees is dedicated to constantly innovate to serve our users across our markets globally."

A live stream of the Nasdaq Closing Bell will be available at 3:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET today on https://new.livestream.com/nasdaq/live and http://www.nasdaq.com/about/marketsitetowervideo.asx

Disclaimer  
This release contains "forward-looking statements", as the phrase is defined in Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and include statements relating to, among other things, VimpelCom's product and service development, the expected benefits and results of VimpelCom's new digital customer engagement platform and VimpelCom's ability to realize the targets and strategic initiatives in the various countries where it operates. The forward-looking statements included in this release are based on management's best assessment of the company's strategic and financial position and of future market conditions, trends and other potential developments. These discussions involve risks and uncertainties. The actual outcome may differ materially from these statements as a result of continued volatility in the economies in our markets; unforeseen developments from competition; governmental regulation of the telecommunications industries; general political uncertainties in our markets; government investigations or other regulatory actions and/or litigation with third parties; failure to meet expectations regarding various strategic initiatives, including, but not limited to, the performance transformation program; and other risks beyond the company's control. Certain other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in any forward-looking statements include the risk factors described in the company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2015 filed with the SEC and other public filings made by the company with the SEC. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the company disclaims any obligation to update them or to announce publicly any revision to any of the forward-looking statements contained in this release, or to make corrections to reflect future events or developments.

About VimpelCom  
VimpelCom VIP is an international communications and technology company, headquartered in Amsterdam, and driven by a vision to unlock new opportunities for customers as they navigate the digital world. Present in some of the world's most dynamic markets, VimpelCom provides more than 200 million customers with voice, fixed broadband, data and digital services. VimpelCom's heritage as a pioneer in technology is the driving force behind a major transformation focused on bringing the digital world to each and every customer. VimpelCom offers services to customers in 14 markets including Russia, Italy, Algeria, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Laos and Zimbabwe. VimpelCom, whose licenses cover 10% of the world's population, operates under the "Beeline", "WIND", "Djezzy", "Mobilink", "Warid", "Kyivstar", "banglalink" and "Telecel" brands. Follow us on Twitter @VimpelCom, visit our blog @ blog.vimpelcom.com or website @ http://www.vimpelcom.com.

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SOURCE VimpelCom Ltd.