What did Vodafone Ukraine's sale mean by 5 December 2019?
A look back at the deal completed days earlier, which moved the Ukrainian mobile operator to NEQSOL Holding, and at a gas pipeline opening the same week.
What had changed for Ukraine's mobile market by 5 December 2019? Two days earlier, on 3 December 2019, NEQSOL Holding completed its purchase of the Ukrainian mobile operator Vodafone Ukraine ("Vodafone Україна"). The holding includes the Azerbaijani company Bakcell.
The completion of the deal meant the operator passed into the ownership of a holding that already included Bakcell. The reports from that time described the transaction as finished, with the purchase closed on 3 December.
A pipeline opening in the same week
On 2 December 2019, Russia and China inaugurated their joint Power of Siberia gas pipeline. It was a separate development from the Vodafone sale, but it appeared in the same days' economic reporting.
Together, the two items marked the start of that December: a change of ownership in Ukrainian telecoms, and the launch of a major gas link between Russia and China.
