VEON successfully repatriates USD 200 million from Uzbekistan

AMSTERDAM, Dec. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam: VEON), a leading global provider of connectivity and internet services headquartered in Amsterdam and serving more than 235 million customers, announces that its subsidiary PJSC VimpelCom has successfully repatriated a net amount of approximately USD 200 million from its wholly owned Uzbekistan subsidiary, LLC Unitel ("Unitel").

Trond Westlie, Chief Financial Officer of VEON, commented: "The repatriation of cash from Uzbekistan for the first time is an important milestone for VEON, further enhancing the cash upstreaming capability of the Group and allowing Unitel to honor its global payment obligations necessary for ongoing operations. Our Uzbekistan operation has reported encouraging results in local currency this year and we remain committed to the business and further investments in the country."

The currency conversion to USD 200 million resulted in a foreign currency exchange loss of approximately USD 49 million, which will be recorded as a finance cost in the 2017 Income Statement of the company.

About VEONVEON is a NASDAQ and Euronext Amsterdam-listed global provider of connectivity and internet services, with an ambition to lead the personal internet revolution for over 235 million customers that it currently serves, and for many others in the years to come.

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DisclaimerThis 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, the expectations regarding distributions to PJSC VimpelCom and entry into other foreign currency transactions (including with vendors at market rate), VEON's cash upstreaming capability, and expectations regarding global payment obligations and investments in Uzbekistan. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which VEON cannot predict with accuracy and some of which VEON might not even anticipate. Although VEON believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions at the time made, it can give no assurance that such expectations will be achieved. Future events and actual results, financial and otherwise, may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of the date of this release. VEON does not undertake to publicly update, except as required by U.S. federal securities laws, any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after such dates or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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SOURCE VEON Ltd.