The parent company of the mobile operator Kyivstar, VEON, plans to carry out an indirect listing of the company’s shares on the NASDAQ stock exchange this year. At the same time, VEON has expressed interest in making a portion of Kyivstar’s shares available to Ukrainian investors; however, this is hindered by existing regulatory restrictions in Ukraine.
This is reported by Finway
Prospects for an IPO for Ukrainians
VEON co-founder Ogi Fabella emphasized his desire to make Kyivstar a public company through an initial public offering (IPO) not only in the USA but also in Ukraine. However, the realization of this idea is currently blocked by regulatory challenges that need to be overcome in collaboration with the government and the financial sector of the country.
“My dream is to create a public IPO for Kyivstar. We have regulatory challenges on the path to realizing this dream, but we are fully prepared to work with the government of Ukraine and the financial sector to make it happen. We would like investment opportunities to be open to Ukrainians as well,” he stated.
Regulatory restrictions and currency control
Kyivstar’s CEO Oleksandr Komarov confirmed that Ogi Fabella indeed considered the possibility of simultaneously listing the shares of the Ukrainian operator on both Ukrainian and American markets. However, according to Komarov, Ukraine lacks a fully-fledged platform for conducting an IPO, which has forced the company to seek alternative mechanisms for attracting investments.
Before the onset of the full-scale war, this issue was resolved through a special procedure allowed by a decision of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission. However, this instrument is currently unavailable due to currency restrictions imposed during the state of martial law, as the securities are denominated in foreign currency.