Vimpelcom CEO submitted

The general director of Vimpelcom Mikhail Slobodin, who became a defendant in the case of giving bribes to the former Komi leadership, left his post. This is stated in the message posted on the company's website.

"Vimpelcom ltd. Today, it announces the resignation of Mikhail Slobodin, the general director of Vimpelkom in Russia, after today's news about Mikhail Slobodin and his previous Employer T Plus," the report said. It emphasizes that the decision comes into force "immediately" immediately.

According to the source of RBC in the company, the decision to resign Slobodin is voluntary. Slobodin headed Vimpelk since September 2013. At the end of August, the company’s board of directors extended its contract for another three years, until September 2019. However, the top manager did not want to compromise the operator, the source explained.

The position of Slobodin will be occupied by Shelle Morten Yonsen. In early August, he was appointed head of Vimplecom Ltd. for the company's work in the main markets. Yonsen is a former top manager of the Norwegian Telenor, one of the largest shareholders Vimpelcom Ltd. In Telenor, Yonsen was a vice president and oversaw European operations. In 2006-2009, he headed Telenor in Russia and was a member of the Vimpelcom Board of Directors, and then headed the Telenor business in Serbia.

The day before, the official representative of the TFR Vladimir Markin said that in the case of bribery in the Komi Republic, two heads of the T Plus energy company were detained. "The defendants in the criminal case are Mikhail Slobodin, Evgeny Olkhovik (currently the managing director of the Renova group of companies), Boris Weinzyer (currently the general director of PJSC T Plus), who were the heads of CJSC CBP from 2007 to 2014, and other unidentified persons," Markin Interfax said. According to the representative of the Investigative Committee, the investigation is now establishing the whereabouts of Slobodin.

Later, the general director of Vimpelcom said that he was abroad. According to Slobodin, he went on a planned business trip to France, planning to return to Russia at the end of the week.

According to the investigation, the defendants in the case were transferred to the senior officials of the Komi Republic bribes for setting the most favorable tariffs for heat and electricity and provided benefits for other commercial activities. Slobodin participated in the creation of CES Holding in 2003 and led the company until 2011.