VEON Estimates $95m Loss of Revenue from December’s Kyivstar Hack

Netherlands-based global digital operator VEON, the parent company of Kyivstar, said December’s cyberattack on the Ukrainian telecommunication company is estimated to cause a “revenue impact” of Hr.3.6 billion ($95 million) in 2024 as the company continues to reverse the impact of the cyberattack.

In a press release, VEON said it expected “no material financial impact” for the 2023 fiscal year from the December cyberattack that destroyed part of Kyivstar’s system and took multiple days to restore.

However, it believed that measures to remediate the impact and reinstate customer trust could take a toll on the company’s revenue this year.

“However, the Company does anticipate that there will be an impact on its consolidated revenue results for the year ending 31 December 2024 associated with the revenue loss arising from the customer loyalty measures taken by Kyivstar in order to compensate for the inconvenience caused during the disruptions.

“The revenue impact of these offers is currently estimated to be approximately Hr. 3.6 billion (approximately $95 million),” read the press release.

It added that an accurate estimation of the final impact is not currently possible.

On Dec. 12, Kyivstar, Ukraine’s main telecommunications company, experienced its largest cyberattack to date that severely compromised the system leading to nationwide network outages.

While basic services were restored within a few days, it took more than a week for Kyivstar to fully restore its services.

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The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) believed Russian hackers had gained access to the providers computer systems for months before launching the attack, a claim Kyivstar spokesperson Irina Lelichenko denied.

On Jan. 9, a Ukrainian hacker group known as Blackjack warned it had planned an upcoming large-scale cyberattack on Russia in revenge for the Kyivstar incident.

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Leo Chiu

Leo Chiu is a news reporter residing in Eastern Europe since 2015 with a profound interest in geopolitics, having witnessed two presidential elections in Belarus and visited numerous contested regions worldwide. He believes in the human side of journalism and that there's a story to be told behind every number and statistic.