VEON and Hala to Explore Partnership in Ride-Hailing Services

VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital operator (“VEON” or “the Company”), announces that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hala, Dubai’s leading local e-hailing taxi solution and a joint venture between Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Careem, to explore cooperation in expanding ride-hailing and mobility services across VEON’s operating markets. The Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU) was signed last week at VEON’s headquarters in Dubai.

The MoU establishes a framework for evaluating joint market entry and expansion opportunities, building on VEON’s existing experience in ride-hailing in Ukraine and Uzbekistan. VEON aims to leverage Hala’s operational expertise alongside its own digital scale and local market presence across frontier markets. The companies will also explore potential areas of integration within VEON’s broader digital ecosystem.

VEON Group CEO Kaan Terzioglu said: “At VEON, we are building digital services that improve the lives of our customers every day in some of the most exciting and underserved markets of our region. With our existing ride-hailing operations in Ukraine and Uzbekistan, we already see strong demand for locally-built, locally-relevant solutions that give us the opportunity to deliver valuable experiences to our customers with multiple touchpoints on any given day. Our partnership with Hala has the potential to significantly accelerate the scale and impact of our mobility service offerings across our other markets.”

Khaled Nuseibeh, CEO of Hala, said: “Hala has developed a scalable ride-hailing platform in the UAE built around operational efficiency, technology integration and consistent service delivery. Through this MoU with VEON, we are exploring how that experience can support expansion into new markets where VEON already has strong digital reach and customer relationships. By combining VEON’s scale and ecosystem with Hala’s mobility expertise, we see potential to develop locally relevant ride-hailing platforms that integrate seamlessly with other digital services.”

The MoU signing ceremony was attended by Kaan Terzioglu, VEON Group CEO, Vitaly Shmakov, VEON’s Chief Investment Officer, Khaled Nuseibeh, CEO of Hala, and senior leadership from both organizations.

VEON and Hala plan to jointly assess the commercial, operational, and technological foundations for locally rooted ride-hailing platforms to serve VEON’s markets. This includes evaluating collaboration models, customer acquisition strategies, and opportunities for future expansion.

VEON operates in Pakistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Bangladesh – five markets that are home to 530 million people, 6% of the world’s population. The company provides a broad range of services across digital platforms -financial services, insurance, entertainment, healthcare, online marketplaces, digital-first brands, learning, among others – serving approximately 140 million digital users monthly, in addition to its connectivity customers. Uklon, Ukraine’s leading ride-hailing platform which provides services in Ukraine and Uzbekistan, joined the VEON family of digital services in April 2025.