Peter Chernyshov, 50, steps down as head of Kyivstar, Ukraine’s biggest mobile operator serving 26.5 million customers.
Chernyshov won’t extend his current one-year contract with Kyivstar that terminated on July 13, according to Kyivstar parent company Veon’s statement released today, on July 19.
Chernyshov also resigns as Veon’s Eurasia head, thus completely leaving the Amsterdam-based Russian-owned telecoms group.
Veon did not specify the reason of why Chernyshov left the company.
Chernyshov did not immediately respond to the Kyiv Post.
“It’s been 4 years and 20 days (at Kyivstar) – quite a time. I had a lot to do, and I’m happy with the results,” Chernyshov wrote on Facebook, adding that the Kyivstar’s profit in 2017 was record-breaking in the history of the company reaching Hr 16.5 billion, or about $627 million.
Nevertheless, “I don’t feel like I’ve completed all that I should have done, and met all the challenges,” he went on. “Focusing on external challenges, I have not properly dealt with internal ones, and most unexpected was the liquidation of Eurasia Region as a structure of Veon.” He added that he would like to spend more time with his family.
But some point to Chernyshov’s criticism against Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko as the reason for him resigning.
Back in April, during the bidding for radio frequencies needed for Ukraine’s three carriers – Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine and lifecell – to launch 4G internet in Ukraine, Poroshenko entered the auction bringing the bidding process to a halt. Chernyshov called the untimely arrival of Poroshenko as “a violation of the rules of the auction.” Later the executive apologized.
Tetiana Popova, the head of the Telecommunications Chamber of Ukraine, told local online media Ekonomichna Pravda that it’s “inadmissible” for a manager of such level to be that undiplomatic towards such a high government official. She says that Veon might have assessed the incident as negative for the operator.
Now Alexander Komarov, the CEO of Beeline Kazakhstan, is to take over Chernyshov’s post at Kyivstar on an interim basis. Beeline is a mobile operator, another brand owned by Veon.
Born in Russia, Chernyshov has been the Kyivstar CEO for four years. Before Kyivstar, he headed the Carlsberg Ukraine beer company from 2006 to 2014. In 2015, he received Ukrainian citizenship.
The amount of Kyivstar subscribers did not significantly increase during his management, but Chernyshov was the one to lead the company through rebranding, the launch of 3G in 2015, as well as the launch of 4G in Ukraine’s biggest cities this year.
In 2017, Kyivstar’s revenue increased by 10 percent compared to last year.
Starting in February, in addition to his Kyivstar responsibility, Chernyshov managed Veon’s businesses in seven Eurasian countries, including Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
Veon’s main shareholder is Russian Mikhail Fridman who owns 48 percent of the shares. He also one of the main shareholders of Alfa Bank.
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