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Why the former owner of Beeline will move its headquarters from Amsterdam
VEON Holding, which until last year owned Russia's VimpelCom, will move its headquarters to Dubai. This will simplify travel for employees of the company's subsidiaries. In addition, it is more profitable to pay taxes in the UAE
International telecommunications holding VEON announced plans to move its headquarters from Amsterdam to Dubai on Monday, October 14. The decision was explained by the “focus on key markets” and “the huge opportunities that Dubai offers.”
VEON was created on the basis of the Russian VimpelCom (provides services under the Beeline brand). But in the fall of 2023, the holding sold the business to local management headed by Alexander Torbakhov. The main shareholder of VEON is the Luxembourg Letterone Investment Holdings SA, created by the owners of Alfa Group. At the moment, the holding has subsidiaries in Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. Since 2022, VEON has had an operational center in the UAE.
As Dubai-based lawyer Daria Nevskaya explained to RBC, in the UAE the corporate tax is generally 9%, and for small companies with a profit of up to 375 thousand dirhams (about $100 thousand) - 0%. "If a number of conditions are met, the company does not pay corporate tax on dividends received from foreign subsidiaries," Nevskaya continues. "If the company pays dividends from the UAE, they are not taxed. The UAE has a tax agreement with Kyrgyzstan, the tax rates for dividends under tax agreements between the UAE and the countries where VEON subsidiaries operate are more favorable than under similar agreements between the Netherlands and these countries." In addition, according to her, the UAE does not levy personal income tax on salaries or other payments related to employment. “The Netherlands has a fairly high corporate tax rate of 25.8% (for profits over 200 thousand euros per year, up to this limit a rate of 19% is applied), the personal income tax reaches 49.5%, and employers pay significant insurance premiums for their employees,” Daria Nevskaya noted.
In addition, to employ a foreign citizen in the Netherlands, the employer must prove that he cannot find a local employee for the position, employees of subsidiaries who do not have an EU passport or residence permit must obtain a Schengen visa to visit the headquarters, she noted. "In the UAE, there are no restrictions on hiring foreign workers in the company. Companies only have to comply with the rules on Emiratization - companies with 50 or more employees are required to have at least 2% of employees who are UAE citizens, with this share increasing to 10% by 2026," Nevskaya concluded. Earlier, VEON CEO Kaan Terzioglu said in an interview with Bloomberg that they are experiencing difficulties due to visa restrictions in the Netherlands: the company has almost no opportunity to invite employees from Pakistan and Bangladesh who do not have EU passports to meetings.
Советник Pen & Paper Роман Кузьмин считает, что основными преимуществами переезда будут облегченная процедура онбординга сотрудников и близость к основным рынкам осуществления деятельности. По его словам, с точки зрения санкционной регуляторной нагрузки, у решения есть как преимущества, так и недостатки. «К недостаткам можно отнести тот факт, что ОАЭ часто рассматриваются как юрисдикция, через которую возможен обход санкций в отношении России, что в сочетании с исторической связью VEON с российским рынком, может вызвать подозрения в том, что компания пытается дистанцироваться от европейской регуляторной среды, — рассказал Кузьмин. — С другой стороны, переезд из Амстердама в Дубай приведет к снижению регуляторной нагрузки по соблюдению санкций ЕС — при условии формального и фактического переноса деятельности в Дубай компания больше не будет обязана выполнять требования европейского законодательства». Но те акционеры и члены управляющих органов, которые являются гражданами ЕС, будут обязаны соблюдать требования санкций ЕС и после переезда, оговорился он. • проблемы, связанные с наличием в портфеле активов в России и на Украине после начала специальной военной операции, а также санкций в отношении основателей LetterOne Михаила Фридмана, Германа Хана и Алексея Кузьмичева; • трудности с привлечением заемных средств и отзыв присвоенных VEON кредитных рейтингов мировыми рейтинговыми агентствами S&P Global Ratings и Fitch Ratings; • проблемы при работе с некоторыми поставщиками услуг из-за приказа американского Управления по контролю за иностранными активами Минфина США (OFAC), запрещающего гражданам США прямо или косвенно оказывать бухгалтерские, трастовые и корпоративные, а также консультационные услуги по вопросам управления любому лицу, находящемуся в России.
После продажи российского бизнеса у VEON было еще несколько крупных сделок. В январе 2024-го холдинг объявил о продаже башенной инфраструктуры в Бангладеш примерно за 11 млрд бангладешских так (около $100 млн). В марте этого года VEON договорился о продаже 50,1% в «Beeline Кыргызстан». В конце сентября было объявлено о продаже 49% в казахстанской «дочке» холдинга — компании TNS Plus за $137,5 млн.
В августе Veon объявил о делистинге своих акций с амстердамской фондовой биржи Euronext и запуске обратного выкупа бумаги на сумму до $100 млн.
At the same time, VEON has encountered problems in Ukraine. Last fall, the Security Service of Ukraine opened a criminal case against Letterone co-owner Mikhail Fridman on suspicion of undermining the territorial integrity of the country and initiated the seizure of shares in the local subsidiary of the Kyivstar holding, which created the preconditions for its nationalization. In response, VEON promised large investments in infrastructure (up to $1 billion in 2023-2027) and stepped up its GR activities: former US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo joined the board of directors of Kyivstar, and subsequently the supervisory board of the holding itself. In September, he took part in the discussion "Ukraine's Role in Creating a Safe World" at the annual meeting of the Yalta European Strategy (YES). The discussion also included the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former Minister of Defense of the Netherlands Kajsa Ollongren, with former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski serving as the moderator.
Since 2024, VEON's revenue in dollars has shown growth instead of a decline in 2022-2023. According to the results of the first half of the year, the indicator increased by 9%, to $1.969 billion. More than half of the revenue was brought by subsidiaries in Pakistan and Kazakhstan, another $439 million - by Kyivstar. VEON's quotes on the American NASDAQ stock exchange have doubled over the past year, to almost $30 per depositary share.