VimpelCom announces Eurasia Mobile Challenge finalists

AMSTERDAM, Dec. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- VimpelCom Group (NASDAQ: VIP), a leading global provider of telecommunications and digital services headquartered in Amsterdam and serving over 200 million customers, is pleased to announce the 24 country winners that will compete in the Eurasia Mobile Challenge final in Yerevan, Armenia on 24 and 25 January 2017.

Eurasia Mobile Challenge is an initiative of Make Your Mark, VimpelCom's flagship corporate responsibility program. The aim of Make Your Mark is to help young entrepreneurs find innovative and technology driven solutions to developmental problems. Under Eurasia Mobile Challenge, teams are coached and assessed by successful local and international entrepreneurs for innovation, originality, scalability, relevance to the local community, and business model feasibility.

This year's finalists were chosen from almost 1,000 registered teams, which is double the number registered in 2015, and nearly 300 project submissions, up by 76 percent from last year. Judges selected three teams from each of the eight participating countries. The 24 winning teams will present their digital ideas to a panel of 10 judges comprising international and regional digital entrepreneurs from world leading organizations, global investors, and senior VimpelCom executives.

Following the regional final, three winning teams will represent Eurasia in the Global Mobile Challenge final at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from 27 February to 2 March 2017.

Mikhail Gerchuk, Chief Executive Officer for Eurasia at VimpelCom, said: "We are delighted to announce the country winners of Eurasia Mobile Challenge 2016. Make Your Mark is a very important program for VimpelCom, so we are extremely pleased to see such an increase in the number of submissions to Eurasia Mobile Challenge in only its second year.

"Digital entrepreneurism is the lifeblood of our business and through this competition, we are proud to be able to support young entrepreneurs across Eurasia. We wish all the winners the best of luck in the regional final in January."

To enter Eurasia Mobile Challenge, young entrepreneurs are tasked with developing the industry's next big mobile solution in one of four categories: Entertainment and Culture, Environmental Benefit, Social Benefit, and Other. The category receiving the highest number of submissions this year was Social Benefit, with 143 submissions, while the Entertainment and Culture category came second with 58.

The 24 country winners are:

• Armenia: Earlyone
• Armenia: Terreva
• Armenia: Certifire
• Georgia: Augep
• Georgia: Treepex
• Georgia: Persomedic
• Kazakhstan: AgroShield
• Kazakhstan: 20tonn
• Kazakhstan: Torgai
• Kyrgyzstan: Kamp
• Kyrgyzstan: Donate-Asia.org
• Kyrgyzstan: CharbaKG
• Russia: Simple Invest
• Russia: Smart Parking
• Russia: ConfBot
• Tajikistan: Repetitor
• Tajikistan: Народный мониторинг (People's Monitor)
• Tajikistan: Doverto
• Ukraine: Photofact
• Ukraine: Online Бюро находок Luckfind.me (Online Lost & Found Luckfind.me)
• Ukraine: inCust
• Uzbekistan: Fixit
• Uzbekistan: MyApteka
• Uzbekistan: Smartup

To see the latest news about the competition, visit www.eurasiamobilechallenge.com.

About VimpelCom

VimpelCom (NASDAQ: VIP) is an international communications and technology company, headquartered in Amsterdam, and driven by a vision to unlock new opportunities for customers as they navigate the digital world. Present in some of the world's most dynamic markets, VimpelCom provides more than 200 million customers with voice, fixed broadband, data, and digital services. VimpelCom's heritage as a pioneer in technology is the driving force behind a major transformation focused on bringing the digital world to each and every customer. VimpelCom offers services to customers in 13 markets including Russia, Italy, Algeria, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, and Laos. VimpelCom, whose licenses cover 10% of the world's population, operates under the "Beeline", "WIND", "Djezzy", "Mobilink", "Kyivstar", and "banglalink" brands. Follow us on Twitter @VimpelCom or visit our website at http://www.vimpelcom.com.

SOURCE VimpelCom Ltd.