Beeline Academy launched to help train youth with emphasis on data protection, cybersecurity, and AI  

Amsterdam, 5 October 2023: VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam: VEON), a global digital operator that provides converged connectivity and online services, today announces that its Beeline Uzbekistan, its digital operator in Uzbekistan, opened the Beeline Academy in Tashkent to help train IT, AI, cybersecurity and data protection experts.

The Beeline Academy was opened in cooperation with the Tashkent International University of Education or TIUE, a private university which trains highly qualified specialists with higher education in the field of information technology, education and business management. Together, Beeline Academy and TIUE also plan to train teachers to provide IT education throughout the country.

The goal of Beeline Academy is to promote IT professions and attract Uzbek youth into industries directly involved in the digitalization of the country’s economy, with particular emphasis on training cybersecurity specialists, ensuring reliable protection of data of private and public organizations from potential threats, as well as AI specialists.

Andrzej Malinowski, CEO of Beeline Uzbekistan addressed the students on the opening day: “The launch of Beeline Academy is a key step for us as a digital operator, ensuring high-quality education of Uzbekistan’s young talent. It will help not only with the skills development but also with the emergence of a culture and atmosphere conducive to greater creativity in the digital space. We are delighted to contribute to building the talent pipeline of the Digital Uzbekistan, for Beeline and for the country in general.”

Kaan Terzioglu, CEO of VEON Group, also participated in the event and welcomed the students: “When talking about VEON’s ambitions in Uzbekistan, we had one main goal from the very beginning: making Uzbekistan an IT center in the region. Developing talents in the area of technology – particularly cybersecurity and AI – will help achieve this goal. We are delighted to contribute to the digitalization of the country, not only with our products and services, but also with the investments we make in the human and talent potential of the country."

The Beeline Academy will improve students' access to the latest practical training programs along with lessons within the university curriculum in the field of IT. The Academy students will benefit not only from modern classroom equipment, but only from a newly created interactive video studio with improved distance learning capabilities, media content creation, virtual video lessons, webinars and video conferencing.

About VEON
VEON is a digital operator that provides converged connectivity and digital services to nearly 160 million customers.  Operating across six countries that are home to more than 7% of the world’s population, VEON is transforming lives through technology-driven services that empower individuals and drive economic growth.  Headquartered in Amsterdam, VEON is listed on NASDAQ and Euronext. For more information visit: https://www.veon.com.

Disclaimer 
This release contains “forward-looking statements,” as the phrase is defined in Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and include statements relating to, among other things, VEON’s strategy and human resources development plans. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which VEON cannot predict with accuracy and some of which VEON might not even anticipate. The forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of the date of this release. VEON does not undertake to publicly update, except as required by U.S. federal securities laws, any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after such dates or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Contact Information
VEON 
Hande Asik
Group Director of Communication 
pr@veon.com

TUVA Partners
Julian Tanner
julian.tanner@tuvapartners.com

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• Beeline Uzbekistan invests in developing local IT talent with Beeline Academy