CEO, Chairman of the Board and Independent Directors selected for VimpelCom Ltd.

Telenor and Altimo have agreed to appoint Alexander Izosimov as the CEO of VimpelCom Ltd. Jo Lunder will be the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Lunder, Mr. Leonid Novoselsky and Dr. Hans Peter Kohlhammer will be the independent members of VimpelCom Ltd.’s Board of Directors.

On Oct. 5, Telenor ASA and Altimo Holdings & Investments Ltd. announced their agreement to combine their common assets in Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar and Russian mobile operator OJSC VimpelCom in a newly formed Bermuda company, VimpelCom Ltd., which will be headquartered in the Netherlands.  Today, Telenor and Altimo announce that they have selected candidates to fill VimpelCom Ltd.’s leadership positions: Alexander V. Izosimov, presently non-executive President of OJSC VimpelCom, will be appointed as VimpelCom Ltd.’s President and CEO, and Jo Lunder will become an independent director and Chairman of VimpelCom Ltd.’s Board. Leonid Novoselsky and Dr. Hans Peter Kohlhammer will become independent members of VimpelCom Ltd.’s Board of Directors.

Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor, said:

“It is with great confidence that we announce two such prominent and experienced people, Alexander Izosimov and Jo Lunder, to head our new united company. They both have unique knowledge of the mobile business and will be beneficial for the future prosperous development of the new company. Both have contributed substantially to making OJSC VimpelCom one of Europe’s leading mobile operators. When Telenor first invested in VimpelCom in 1998, the company had a mere 300,000 customers, a number which today exceeds 65 million. From being a small Moscow-based operator, OJSC VimpelCom now has operations in nine countries in addition to Russia. Alexander Izosimov and Jo Lunder have contributed greatly to this success, and together they will create a continued success story from our new base in the Netherlands.”

Alexei Reznikovich, CEO of Altimo, commented:

“It the present phase, when we are about to embark on this new exciting venture, it is extremely important that we emphasize the continuation of present successes. This is one major reason why we have chosen Jo Lunder and Alexander Izosimov to take on the development of our new jointly-owned mobile telecoms operator, VimpelCom Ltd. They have a unique track record of success and it is with trust that we wish them all the best in their efforts to develop this new creation of ours into a leading emerging markets mobile operator.”

Chairman of the Board

Jo Lunder is currently the Executive Vice President of FERD, one of Norway’s largest privately-owned financial and industrial groups. Previously, Mr. Lunder served as the Chief Executive Officer of Atea ASA, one of Europe’s largest IT-infrastructure companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Prior to that, he served as Managing Director of Telenor Privat and Vice Managing Director of Telenor Mobil.  Mr Lunder has been a member of the OJSC VimpelCom Board of Directors since May 2002.  During his tenure at OJSC VimpelCom, Mr. Lunder served as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Operating Officer.  In addition, Mr. Lunder currently serves as Chairman of the Aibel Group of Companies, the second largest Nordic oil and gas services company, Chairman of Elopak AS, the world’s third largest liquid carton packaging company, and Chairman of Swix Sport AS, a global supplier of winter clothing and skiing equipment. Mr. Lunder earned a B.A. degree from Oslo Business School and holds an MBA from Henley Management College (UK). Mr. Lunder is 48 years old and is a Norwegian citizen.

President and CEO

Alexander Izosimov served as OJSC VimpelCom’s Chief Executive Officer and General Director from October 2003 until April 2009. Mr. Izosimov currently is the Chairman of the Board of GSM Association and serves on the Boards of Directors of Baltika Breweries Plc., MTG AB and Dynasty Foundation. Mr. Izosimov also is a member of the Council on Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship in Russia. Prior to joining OJSC VimpelCom, Mr. Izosimov held senior positions with Mars, Inc. [in Moscow] and McKinsey & Company in Stockholm and London. Mr. Izosimov has a M.S. degree from the Moscow Aviation Institute and an MBA from INSEAD.   Mr. Izosimov is 46 years old, and is a Russian citizen.

Independent Directors

VimpelCom Ltd.’s Board will consist of nine directors, three of whom will be appointed by each of Telenor and Alfa and three of whom will be independent.  In addition to Mr. Lunder, the VimpelCom Ltd.’s independent directors will consist of the following people:

Leonid Novoselsky

Leonid Novoselsky has been a director of OJSC VimpelCom since June 2006.  He is a co-founder and the General Director of the Gradient Group. Mr. Novoselsky also has served as General Director of LLC “Arbat Prestige Gradient” since 2005 and a founding member of LLC “Trade House “Symposium” since 2007.  From September 2008, Mr. Novoselsky has served as a director of OJSC “Protec”, one of the largest pharmaceutical distributors in Russia.  Mr. Novoselsky graduated from the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys and has an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Business School.  Mr. Novoselsky is 39 years old, and is a Russian citizen.

Dr. Hans Peter Kohlhammer

Hans Peter Kohlhammer has been a director of OJSC VimpelCom since June 2008. Dr. Kohlhammer has been the Chief Executive Officer of Kohlhammer Consulting since August 2006 and served as the Chief Executive Officer of Broadnet AG in Hamburg from December 2006 to October 2007.  From 2003 to 2006, Dr. Kohlhammer was the Chief Executive Officer and Director General of the telecom company SITA SC in Geneva.  From 2001 until 2003, Dr. Kohlhammer was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Grundig AG. Dr. Kohlhammer has a Ph.D. degree in Mathematics from Bonn University.  Dr. Kohlhammer is 62 years old, and is a German citizen.

Source: Telenor