Board of Directors

Ursula Burns was appointed as Chairman of VEON on 24 July 2017.

VEON’s Board of Directors appointed Ursula Burns as CEO on 13 December 2018, in addition to her role as Chairman. She stepped down as CEO from 1 March 2020.

Ursula Burns has extensive international experience of large companies confronting technology change in their industries. She was Chairman of the Board of the Xerox Corporation from 2010 to 2017 and Chief Executive Officer from 2009 to 2016. She is a director of the boards of Exxon Mobil, Nestlé and Uber.

President Barack Obama appointed her to help lead the White House national program on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and she served as chair of the President's Export Council.

Ms. Burns also counsels other community, educational and non-profit organisations including the Ford Foundation and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Corporation. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineers and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Ms. Burns holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York University.

Mikhail Fridman has been a director of the Company since April 2010. Mr. Fridman, one of the original founders of Alfa Group Consortium, is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Alfa Group Consortium, one of Russia's largest privately owned financial-industrial conglomerates. With effect from 1 July 2016, Mr Fridman stepped down as Chairman of the Board of Letterone Holdings S.A. and Letterone Investment Holdings S.A. and has continued to serve as a member of each such Board since that date.

Mr. Fridman is also a member of the Board of Directors of Alfa-Bank Russia and a member of the Supervisory Board of X5 Retail Group N.V. Mr. Fridman is a member of the Board of Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations (USA). He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys in 1986. Mr. Fridman was born in L’viv, Ukraine in 1964

Mr. Gazin is the former Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company Russian and CIS practice and the former CEO of one of the largest Ukrainian business groups. Mr. Gazin is actively involved with a number of corporate and non-profit boards, primarily in technology and energy sectors. He also serves as an Affiliate Partner of Lindsay Goldberg, a New York based private equity firm.

Mr. Gazin started his professional career as a systems and telecommunications engineer at Bell Communications Research/Tellcordia and General Dynamics in the US. Mr. Gazin received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the US, a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University and a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Mr. Holt held a Group Finance Director position at Telenor ASA from 2000 to 2017. From 2006 to 2017 he was a Senior Advisor in Telenor ASA. From 1995 to 1999 he served as Executive Vice President and CFO of Aker ASA and Aker RGI ASA. Prior to this Mr. Holt held various leadership positions in the Aker Group, including Deputy President of Norwegian Contractors AS, Executive Vice President and CFO of Aker Oil and Gas Technology AS, President of Aker Real Estate AS, and Finance and Accounting Director of Aker Norcem AS. From 1978 to 1986 he served as Executive Officer and Special Advisor in the Negotiation Department in the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

Mr. Holt holds a Doctor of Business Administration degree (DBA from Henley Management College/Brunel University in the UK, an MBA from the University of Queensland in Australia, and an MBA in finance from the University of Wisconsin in the US. He has also studied at Northwestern University and the Wharton School/University of Pennsylvania in the US and IMD in Switzerland. Mr. Holt has served on a number of corporate boards.

Andrei Gusev is Managing Director of LetterOne Technology. Prior to joining LetterOne Technology, Mr. Gusev served as Managing Director at Altimo (2013 – 2014).

In 2011 and 2012, Mr. Gusev was Chief Executive Officer of LSE-listed X5 Retail Group N.V., and from 2006 to 2010, Mr. Gusev was Director of Business Development and M&A of X5. From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Gusev served as Managing Director of the Alfa Group with overall responsibility for Investment Planning. Mr. Gusev has also worked at Bain & Company and Deloitte Consulting. In 2000 Mr. Gusev received an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (USA). Mr. Gusev graduated with a Diploma with Honors from the Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science at Lomonosov Moscow State University. 

Sir Julian Horn-Smith was a member of the founding management team of Vodafone Group Plc and is considered to be one of the principal architects in the development of Vodafone’s International Strategy. He retired from the Vodafone Board in July 2006, where he held the title Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

Sir Julian remains in the global telecom sector as a Senior Advisor to UBS Investment Bank, in London, Senior Advisor to CVC (Telecoms and Media), a Member of the Board of Digicel (the leading Caribbean and Pacific Operator), a member of the Advisory Board of LetterOne Technology, and advisor to the Board and Chairman of Etisalat Group. Sir Julian has a directorship at Martin Dawes Systems (a software company). He is a Pro Chancellor at Bath University and chairs the University’s School of Management Advisory Board. He is a Trustee for the Hope for Tomorrow Charity and is the Founder and Co-Chair of The TATLIDiL Conference (British and Turkish Conference). In 2004 he received a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to international telecommunications.

During his career, Sir Julian has served as a Director on a number of boards of well-known companies, including; Lloyds Banking Group plc, Smiths Group, China Mobile, eAccess in Japan, De la Rue plc, Verizon Wireless, and SFR in France. He  chairs both of the Mannesmann Supervisory Management Boards.

Guy Laurence joined the supervisory board of VEON in July 2017. He brings more than 30 years of global experience in telecommunications, media and pay television. He was previously CEO at Rogers, a CDN$14bn telecoms and media group in North America, and before that at Vodafone for thirteen years holding several senior positions including CEO of Vodafone UK, operating in one of the most competitive and mature communications markets in the world. Guy Laurence currently serves as Chief Executive at Chelsea FC plc.

Guy Laurence first joined Vodafone in 2000, holding a number of increasingly senior roles in marketing and product development before becoming CEO of Vodafone Netherlands and then Vodafone UK where he was CEO for five years. Previously, he held senior leadership positions at a number of international media companies including MGM Studios in Los Angeles, United Cinemas International and Chrysalis Records.

In addition to his deep experience in telecoms and entertainment, Laurence is often credited for his digital transformation skills.  He also holds progressive views on the role of the modern workplace and is a well-known public speaker on the subject. He believes businesses must make an active contribution to the communities that surround them. In 2012 he was recognized by the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, for developing a text donation service that is now used by over 25,000 charities in the UK.

Mr. Pertsovsky is the member of the Supervisory Board of VEON.

Mr. Pertsovsky joined LetterOne Technology in London on 1 January 2018 from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. At Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Mr. Pertsovsky served as the Country Executive for Russia & CIS since February 2013. Prior to that, Mr. Pertsovsky was at Renaissance Capital, which he joined in 2002 and oversaw the institutional securities business and Group activities in Russia. He became Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Capital in 2007. Mr. Pertsovsky holds an MS degree in Applied Mathematics from the Moscow Institute of Radio, Engineering and Automation. He also received an MBA from Columbia University in 2002.

Guillaume Bacuvier brings to the Board considerable experience in data science and digital marketing. Since 2017, he has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Dunnhumby Limited, a global provider of customer data science. Before that, he held a number of senior positions at Google over a ten-year period, including Vice President of Advertising Solutions, EMEA, and Managing Director, Products, Solutions & Innovations, Southern & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa.

Osama Bedier brings to the Board a wealth of expertise in digital technology. He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Poynt, which develops and markets credit card processing terminals for small businesses. Mr. Bedier also serves on the Boards of QIWI, WePay and PayRange. Before founding Poynt, Mr. Bedier served as the Vice President of Payments at Google, where he created Google Wallet.  He also ran product and engineering at PayPal.

Robert Jan van de Kraats RA (Chartered Accountant) brings to the Board his experience as a seasoned international non-executive board member, having served in such positions for the past 13 years. He also serves as an advisor to the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM). Previously he served as a member of the Commission on Dutch Corporate Governance, which designed a new governance code for the Netherlands, as well as the Chief Financial Officer, member of the Executive Board and Vice Chairman of the Board of Randstad Holding NV, a global provider of recruitment and staffing services. He began his career with Deloitte Dijker van Dien (now part of PwC).