Veon plans to launch taxi and delivery services in Kazakhstan

Veon Ltd. plans to expand its business in Kazakhstan by launching ride-hailing and delivery services, aiming to build an ecosystem in the country’s 20 million-strong population that will help increase revenue from digital services.

The Dubai-based telecommunications company operates in countries such as Pakistan and Ukraine, and in Kazakhstan it uses the Beeline brand, which is the company’s third-largest market by revenue. According to CEO Kaan Terzioğlu, Veon is seeking opportunities to diversify away from its traditional, capital-intensive infrastructure business toward digital services.

The company has already agreed to acquire the Kazakh division of OLX Group, an online classifieds platform. Veon now intends to compete with the Kazakh fintech company Kaspi.kz, as well as with local ride-hailing services operated by the tech company Yandex.

Digital services account for 18% of the company’s total revenue, and Veon plans to increase this share to 50% within three years. In Kazakhstan, Veon provides financial services through its Simply platform, and over the next 12 months, it plans to select a city for launching ride-hailing and delivery services.

Competition in Central Asia is intensifying: banks are building their own ecosystems, expanding beyond lending, and one financial holding company is even developing its own telecom operator.

Additionally, Veon plans to introduce satellite-enabled mobile services in Kazakhstan following a deal with Starlink Inc. The company will begin launching voice services within six months, and the ability to send text messages will become available a few months later.

Source: Bloomberg