By Gianluca Lo Nostro and Leo Marchandon
(Reuters) -A peaceful resolution to the war between Russia and Ukraine would boost the value of Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar “quite significantly”, its CEO Oleksandr Komarov said on Friday ahead of the company’s stock market listing in New York.
Kyivstar’s shares will begin trading on the Nasdaq later on Friday, becoming the first Ukraine-based company listed on a U.S. stock exchange.
The listing coincides with a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, a meeting closely watched by Ukraine and European nations as a potential turning point in peace negotiations.
“We will be the best asset for the international investment community to invest in Ukraine, to invest in the Ukrainian recovery, to invest in the Ukrainian support,” Komarov told Reuters in an interview.
Komarov said the company chose Nasdaq, where its parent VEON is also listed, over London or Warsaw because it was even more important to “strengthen the link between the United States and Ukraine rather than between Ukraine and Europe.”
The company has deepened its U.S. ties during the conflict, appointing former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to its board and signing a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink for satellite services.
Kyivstar is the biggest mobile operator in Ukraine with 24 million subscribers. Founded in 1994, it became part of Veon in 2010. Apart from telecoms, it owns digital health platform Helsi and ride-hailing firm Uklon.
VEON has pitched the listing as an opportunity for foreign investors to bet on Ukraine’s reconstruction. But its success hinges in part on a peace deal being achieved.
Komarov said that the first few weeks of trading will be extremely volatile. When asked if the outcome of the IPO depends on political developments, he said the volatile external environment was already incorporated in Kyivstar’s valuation.
Kyivstar, which has been given a pro forma valuation of $2.3 billion, carried out the listing by merging with fintech entrepreneur Betsy Cohen’s special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
The company raised $178 million. Reuters earlier reported Kyivstar expected up to $200 million.
VEON will retain a majority stake in the mobile operator.
Komarov said his firm’s Nasdaq debut showed what Ukrainian companies could accomplish by accessing international markets and that prominent Ukrainian businessmen have spoken to him in recent months to hear about Kyivstar’s listing strategy.
“This is one of the dimensions of our integration into the Western world that should be developed and should be supported,” he said.
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Leo Marchandon; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Tomasz Janowski)
