Alexander Komarov, 48, CEO of Ukraine’s largest mobile operator Kyivstar, poses for a picture in the company’s Kyiv office. Telecom group Veon officially appointed Komarov as the new president of Kyivstar in December 2018. In 2019, Kyivstar’s operating income was Hr 22.4 billion ($870 million).
In May last year, Ukraine’s ex-president signed a decree to roll out the fifth-generation, or 5G, network in Ukraine, currently the fastest mobile data technology available. The deadline for the first launches was set for the end of 2020.
Incumbent President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, canceled this plan in July 2019. He asked mobile operators to slow down and, first, bring the internet to rural Ukraine – where there’s often no internet at all – before taking steps toward a more developed future.
