Kyivstar and Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine sign Cooperation Memorandum to Launch National Large Language Model for Ukraine
- Part of a substantial USD 1 billion investment commitment to Ukraine's digital infrastructure over 2023-2027
- Development of first national LLM trained exclusively on Ukrainian data, enhancing local relevance and accuracy
- Ensures data sovereignty with secure storage and processing within Ukraine
- Potential revenue streams from AI-powered products across multiple sectors including government, healthcare, and finance
- Strengthens VEON's position in AI development across multiple markets including Kazakhstan and Pakistan
- Significant development costs and resource allocation required for LLM creation
- Project completion timeline extends to December 2025, indicating a lengthy development period
- Potential cybersecurity risks associated with handling sensitive national data
Insights
VEON's strategic move into Ukraine's AI space builds on its $1B digital infrastructure commitment and expands its region-specific LLM portfolio.
This partnership between Kyivstar and Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation represents a strategic expansion of VEON's AI capabilities across its operating markets. The development of Ukraine's first national large language model is part of the company's broader
What makes this initiative particularly significant is its focus on digital sovereignty and localized AI development. By training exclusively on Ukrainian-language data, the LLM addresses critical market gaps that global models like GPT-4 cannot adequately serve. The emphasis on keeping sensitive national data within Ukraine's borders also creates opportunities in highly regulated sectors including government, defense, healthcare, and financial services.
This project follows VEON's established pattern of developing country-specific AI models, as seen with KazLLM in Kazakhstan and their ongoing Urdu language model in Pakistan. This represents a deliberate strategy to build competitive advantages in underserved language markets across VEON's footprint. The anticipated December 2025 release timeline indicates this is a substantial technical undertaking requiring significant resources.
The commercial applications span both B2G (business-to-government) and B2B sectors, with potential revenue streams from specialized AI applications across education, finance, healthcare, and legal services. For VEON, this represents not just technological advancement but potentially new revenue channels through high-value AI services tailored to Ukraine's specific needs.
Dubai and Kyiv, June 17, 2025: VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital operator, announces today that Kyivstar, VEON’s digital operator in Ukraine, has joined forces with Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation to develop Ukraine’s first national large language model (“LLM”) trained on Ukrainian-language data. The cooperation memorandum builds on VEON’s and Kyivstar’s pledge to invest USD 1 billion to rebuild Ukraine’s digital infrastructure over 2023-2027.
The parties plan to develop Ukrainian LLM using open-source architectures and trained exclusively on Ukrainian data sources. In addition to capturing the full range of Ukrainian dialects, terminology, history, and cultural context, the project is designed to ensure that sensitive national data is securely stored and processed within Ukraine, a critical requirement for sectors such as government, defense, healthcare, and financial services.
The LLM will also serve as the foundation for AI-powered products and services, including legal and regulatory analysis tools, as well as specialized AI applications across both public and private sectors including in fields like education, finance, and health. Trained on Ukrainian data, the model is expected to deliver more accurate, relevant, and actionable insights for Ukrainian users than general-purpose global models.
Kyivstar will develop the LLM in collaboration with Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation and the WINWIN AI Centre of Excellence. The first version of the Ukrainian LLM is scheduled for release by December 2025.
“Today’s agreement is major milestone in building a sovereign, secure and culturally relevant AI ecosystem to drive economic growth, while empowering Ukrainians with tools that enhance their lives,” said Kaan Terzioglu, CEO of VEON Group. “Ukrainian LLM will empower users to access augmented intelligence tools with the full cultural context and depth of their native language and national resources. We consider it a privilege to be supporting Ukraine’s digital transformation powered by AI. This initiative demonstrates the true meaning of our commitment to building Ukraine’s digital future with our investments.”
Oleksandr Komarov, CEO of Kyivstar, added, “Leading the development of Ukraine’s national LLM is aligned with our vision as VEON’s digital operator in Ukraine. With Kyivstar’s deep technological expertise, AI capabilities, and commitment to national development, we are proud to contribute to Ukraine’s digital sovereignty while delivering locally relevant innovation that serves businesses, institutions, and citizens alike.”
The development of Ukraine’s first national LLM marks the latest expansion of VEON’s Group-wide initiatives to close the AI language gap for underrepresented languages across its markets, empowering solutions that augment capabilities for consumers and enterprises. The pioneering KazLLM, launched in Kazakhstan in December 2024 as a partnership of VEON’s QazCode, Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence at Nazarbayev University (ISSAI NU) and Astana Hub, today powers the “AI Tutor” on Janymda super-app. In Pakistan, VEON’s digital operator Jazz is collaborating with the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) and the National Information Technology Board (NITB) to develop a local LLM in Urdu language.
About VEON
VEON is a Nasdaq-listed digital operator that provides converged connectivity and digital services to nearly 160 million customers. Operating across six countries that are home to more than
About Kyivstar
Kyivstar is Ukraine’s largest digital operator, serving over 24 million mobile subscribers and 1.3 million fixed-line users. As VEON’s digital operator in Ukraine, Kyivstar offers a comprehensive portfolio of digital services to individuals and businesses, with a strong focus on AI-powered innovation and national digital development.
Disclaimer
This release contains “forward-looking statements”, as the phrase is defined in Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and include statements relating to, among other things, VEON’s strategic priorities, operating model and development plans as well as VEON’s ability to achieve anticipated results and business objectives. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which VEON cannot predict with accuracy and some of which VEON might not even anticipate. The forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of the date of this release. VEON does not undertake to publicly update, except as required by U.S. federal securities laws, any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after such dates or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Contact Information
VEON
Hande Asik
Group Director of Communications
pr@veon.com
Investor Relations
ir@veon.com
ward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after such dates or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Contact Information
VEON
Hande Asik
Group Director of Communications
pr@veon.com
Investor Relations
ir@veon.com
Attachment
FAQ
What is VEON's investment commitment for Ukraine's digital infrastructure?
When will the Ukrainian national LLM be released?
What sectors will benefit from VEON's Ukrainian LLM?
How is VEON expanding its LLM development in other markets?
What makes VEON's Ukrainian LLM different from global language models?
