The owner of the Beeline decided to change the name

Vimpelcom Ltd. (owns Beeline) I decided to change the name to Veon, the company report for the fourth quarter of 2016.

The shareholders will discuss this issue at an extraordinary meeting on March 30. As specified in the Vimpelcom message, the change in the name "emphasizes the company's desire to speed up the launch strategy of the Veon Internet platform by the end of 2017."

In November 2016, the Italian operator Wind, which belongs to the Vimpelcom and Hong Kong Hutchison, launched the Veon messenger. It allows you to exchange messages and call, but users do not pay the operator for traffic, as in the case of other instant messengers.

By the end of 2017, according to Vimpelcom plans, the messenger will be available for 200 million customers. As Vedomosti said two people familiar with the details, Veon will be launched in Russia. The service, the company believes, will help to cope with the outflow of customers.

According to the results of the last quarter of last year, Vimpelcom revenue amounted to $ 2.3 billion, which is 2.5% more than in the fourth quarter of 2015.