OREANDA-NEWS. May 17, 2011. VimpelCom Ltd. (“VimpelCom” or the “Company”) (NYSE: VIP), a leading international provider of telecommunications services, announces the following appointments to the Company’s management team:

• Ahmed Abou Doma has been appointed Group Executive Vice President and Head of the Asia and Africa Business Unit;
 • Ossama Bessada has been appointed Group Executive Vice President and Head of the Europe and North America Business Unit;
 • Romano Righetti has been appointed Head of the group’s Regulatory Board;
 • Philip Tohme has been appointed Group Chief Technology Officer; and
 • Gerbrand Nijman has been appointed as the new Group Director of Investor Relations. Mr. Nijman succeeds Alexey Subbotin, who has decided to pursue other opportunities after successfully leading VimpelCom’s investor relations program for almost 3 years. 

The appointments are effective immediately.  Messrs. Abou Doma, Bessada, Righetti and Tohme will report to Khaled Bichara, the Company’s President and Group Chief Operating Officer.  Mr. Nijman will report to Henk van Dalen, the Group Chief Financial Officer.
Alexander Izosimov, Group Chief Executive Officer of VimpelCom Ltd., said, "Following our combination with Wind Telecom, our Board created a new corporate structure to drive the successful development of the enlarged VimpelCom group. Today, we are glad to announce the appointment of talented individuals with strong track records to our management team. With these new appointments, our management team has a wealth of industry expertise and a diversity of experience that matches our vast commercial and geographic footprint. We are confident that our management team will continue to drive VimpelCom’s further growth.”

As communicated on April 15, 2011, following the completion of the combination of VimpelCom and Wind Telecom, VimpelCom’s Supervisory Board approved a new corporate structure designed to support the successful development of VimpelCom’s enlarged commercial and geographic footprint, while maintaining a lean corporate and management function.  The new corporate structure consists of five key Business Units:

• Europe and North America (including Italy and Canada)*
 • Russia
 • Ukraine
 • CIS
 • Africa and Asia (including Orascom Telecom and South East Asia)*

The Company’s corporate headquarters are in Amsterdam with centralized corporate functions, including corporate finance, tax, accounting and control, treasury, legal, regulatory affairs, human resources, public relations, investor relations, M&A, commercial operations and technological strategy/procurement function.

 *  The Canadian and South East Asia operations will involve cross-management agreements with Orascom Telecom Holding that are subject to approval by the general shareholders meeting of Orascom Telecom Holding.