Nov 14 Reuters Telecoms group VEON is considering an initial public offering IPO for its Ukrainian unit Kyivstar in the U.S. as early as next year, CEO Kaan Terzioglu said on Thursday.

We have not made those decisions yet, but we are committed to looking into IPOs of our local assets. And clearly, Kyivstar is one of those assets which could be in the line of this process, Terzioglu told Reuters in an interview.

Should the IPO go through, Kyivstar would become the first Ukrainian company to be listed in the United States.

VEON has not had any conversations with Ukrainian officials on the topic, as the process is still in the early stages, Terzioglu said.

He had previously hinted at a potential listing in Warsaw or London.

For Ukraine, I think the local IPO in the Ukrainian market probably is a little bit more longer term issue than having an IPO in an international market, the CEO said.

The comments came after Nasdaq signed a partnership with the Ukrainian government in February to support the development of Ukrainian capital markets.

In October, activist investor Shah Capital, which owns a 6.75 stake in VEON, urged the group to list Kyivstar on Nasdaq as a means to unfreeze ownership shares.

In 2023, a court in Kyiv froze 47.85 of Kyivstar39;s corporate rights due to the previous involvement of sanctioned Russian individuals in VEON.

Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Leo Marchandon in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi

Source Reuters