AMSTERDAM, July 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- VimpelCom Ltd. ("VimpelCom", "Company" or "Group") (NASDAQ: VIP), a leading global provider of telecommunications services, today announces that Jeffrey Hedberg has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Mobilink in Pakistan. He succeeds Rashid Khan, who has decided to retire after over 14 years in leading positions with Mobilink and banglalink. Rashid Khan will continue to perform the duties of the CEO of Mobilink until such time that Jeffrey assumes office in Pakistan, which is expected in early August.

Jo Lunder, VimpelCom CEO, said: "Jeffrey has very strong operational telecoms experience with specific experience of emerging markets. He has held a number of leading roles including CEO of Telkom South Africa and of Cell C, prior to which he was Chairman and CEO of Deutsche Telekom USA. I am very pleased he will be leading Mobilink through the next phase of the Company's development. I would like to thank Rashid Khan, who has made a significant contribution to Mobilink and banglalink over the past decade, in particular establishing Mobilink as the leading operator in Pakistan. We wish Rashid a long and happy retirement."

Jeffrey Hedberg's previous responsibilities include Acting CEO of Telkom South Africa and CEO of Telkom's Nigerian subsidiary, Multi-Links Nigeria. Prior to joining Telkom he was CEO of Cell C, in South Africa. From 1999 to 2002, Jeffrey was Executive Vice President and Member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Telekom AG where he developed the strategy for the International Division and in 2002 he was appointed CEO and Chairman of Deutsche Telekom USA. Jeffrey joined Deutsche Telekom from Swisscom, where he became Executive Vice President of Swisscom International in 1997. Jeffrey commented: "The opportunity presented by Mobilink--as a market leader in a dynamic, growing and highly competitive market--is intriguing and exciting. I look forward to the challenge of improving our performance while increasing our positive impact on the market and on Pakistani society as a whole."

About VimpelCom

VimpelCom is one of the world's largest integrated telecommunications services operators providing voice and data services through a range of traditional and broadband mobile and fixed technologies in Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic and Canada. VimpelCom's operations around the globe cover territory with a total population of approximately 754 million people. As of March 31, 2014 VimpelCom had 218 million mobile customers. VimpelCom Ltd. is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and listed as ADS on the NASDAQ Global Stock Market under the symbol "VIP". For more information visit: http://www.vimpelcom.com.

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