New Ukrainian telecom company attracts largest foreign investment since full-scale war's start.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) provided £435 million long-term debt to Datagroup-Volia-Lifecell, a recently merged Ukrainian telecom company, to improve service quality, EBRD said on Oct.
10. This is the single biggest direct foreign investment in Ukrainian business since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022. "The project is expected to send a strong positive signal to investors," EBRD's statement read.
Datagroup-Volia-Lifecell, the product of a historic merger of Datagroup-Volia and Lifecell, will receive £217.5 million from each organization. According to EBRD's statement, after the investment, Datagroup-Volia-Lifecell will deliver improved mobile connectivity to 10 million subscribers and provide faster and more reliable fixed broadband access to around 4 million homes.
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"The telecoms sector has been essential to Ukraine's welfare and economic resilience since the war began," EBRD Vice President Mark Bowman said. "This operation will result in a large and reliable telecommunications operator, important domestically, as well as a very significant international investment in the Ukrainian economy, which we are proud to be part of."
Originally set up to help central and eastern Europe transiting to a market economy at the end of the Cold War, EBRD gives loans to strategically critical sectors in countries battered by war or economic hardships. IFC, a member of the World Bank, also invests in sectors in developing countries to fulfill basic humanitarian needs. According to Reuters estimates, EBRD has deployed a total of 4.65 billion euros (£5.16 billion) across 107 projects in Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion in February 2022.
Some 855 million euros were deployed so far this year.
French billionaire Xavier Niel closes deal on historic merger of Ukrainian telecom companies
French billionaire Xavier Niel's investment company NJJ Capital has closed the deal on acquiring Lifecell, one of Ukraine's largest mobile operators, and Datagroup-Volia, one of Ukraine's largest fixed telecom and pay-TV providers.
