Supporting Digital Skills Development: Beeline Kazakhstan Adds New Secondary School to Award-Winning CSR Programme

September 02, 2024 at 04:00 AM EDT

Amsterdam and Almaty, 2 September 2024 – VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam: VEON), a global digital operator that provides connectivity and online services (“VEON” or the “Company”), announces that its digital operator Beeline Kazakhstan, through its Corporate Foundation Zhyly Zhurek, is supporting digital skills development in Kazakhstan with the inauguration of a newly-constructed secondary school with high-end technology facilities.

The newly built school in the village of Shelek, near Almaty, was opened on September 1^st, coinciding with Kazakhstan’s “Day of Knowledge”. The school will serve over 900 children and has been equipped with a state-of-the-art computer lab, workshops, laboratories and sports facilities.

Beeline Kazakhstan’s Zhyly Zhurek corporate foundation, which was established in November 2023, funded the new school as part of VEON and Beeline Kazakhstan’s longstanding commitment to supporting priority social projects in the country. Zhyly Zhurek allocates 1% of Beeline Kazakhstan’s annual revenue to CSR programmes ranging from supporting communities impacted by flooding to increasing the country’s educational standards, including equipping students in rural Kazakh schools with the skills necessary for the digital economy.

"Beeline Kazakhstan has a long history of giving back to local communities and investing in priority social projects, and we believe that secondary education is the foundation upon which future digital specialists and experts of Kazakhstan will build their professional skills and knowledge. Zhyly Zhurek’s school development project earned it the recognition of the Eurasian Business Association of Kazakhstan for “Best CSR Project” in November 2023 and we are thrilled to open the latest school, which will help hundreds of children to take their first steps in a modern and well-equipped educational institution. Our investments create well-equipped environments for these students, boosting the digital skills development of Kazakhstan’s future workforce no matter where they are living," said Yevgeny Nastradin, CEO of Beeline Kazakhstan.

Zhyly Zhurek’s programme has already invested in the refitting of eight rural schools to the benefit of nearly five thousand children across Kazakhstan. Beeline Kazakhstan not only supports digital skills development but also creates job opportunities for local technology talent through its AI, big data and digitally focused businesses, including its IT company QazCode. Through QazCode, Beeline Kazakhstan provides technical infrastructure for training of the Kazakh Large Language Model (LLM) which will support the development of AI products and services in Kazakhstan.

Beeline Kazakhstan’s focus on education mirrors similar initiatives by VEON Group companies, demonstrating their commitment to digital skills development and creating inclusive digital opportunities for all. VEON’s Beeline Uzbekistan partnered with Astrum IT Academy in Uzbekistan in 2021 to help educate the new generations of software programmers, big data analysts and software engineers and as well as supports women in STEM. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, Jazz, Mobilink Microfinance Bank and Banglalink concentrate on digital and financial inclusion, including for example in initiatives geared towards increasing women’s participation in digital economy.

About Beeline Kazakhstan
Beeline Kazakhstan serves 11 million customers with mobile connectivity and two million with fixed internet services. Since 2018, the company has been executing its digital operator strategy. Over the past five years, leveraging its expertise in digital solution development, Beeline has created an ecosystem of 60 internal and external products, and serves a total monthly active user base of 11.6 million with its digital products as of June 2024. Beeline Kazakhstan is majority-owned by VEON. The other shareholder is Verny Capital, a major private equity company from Kazakhstan.

About VEON
VEON is a digital operator that provides converged connectivity and digital services to nearly 160 million customers. Operating across six countries that are home to more than 7% of the world’s population, VEON is transforming lives through technology-driven services that empower individuals and drive economic growth. Headquartered in Amsterdam, VEON is listed on Nasdaq and Euronext. For more information visit: www.veon.com

Disclaimer
This 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, VEON’s corporate social responsibility and investment plans. 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 anticipate. 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.
Contact Information

VEON
Hande Asik
Group Director of Communications
pr@veon.com

TUVA Partners
Julian Tanner
Julian.tanner@tuvapartners.com

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