Datagroup-Lifecell Ukraine (IFC-46596)

Countries
  • Ukraine
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Aug 1, 2024
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Ukrainian NewCo
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Communications
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 218.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Jul 28, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Jun 17, 2024

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the proposed investment will support NJJ Holding and Horizon Capital with their plans to merge Lifecell Group and Datagroup-Volia creating a telecom operator in Ukraine (the Group). IFC is considering providing a corporate finance debt facility of up to $218 million to support the merger. The transaction will enable capital expenditures related to upgrading and modernizing the mobile and fixed networks, increasing network resilience, service quality, coverage, and energy efficiency. Once combined, the Group will be one of Ukraine’s largest fixed and mobile convergent operators, providing mobile connectivity to c. 10 million subscribers and covering c. 4 million homes with fixed broadband.  The infrastructure comprises base stations, towers, backbone and a last-mile fiber network. The Group will also operate retail stores, office space, data centers, and outsourcing call centers in Ukraine.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability, given that the project is expected to have limited adverse E&S risks and/or impacts that are a few, site-specific, largely reversible, and readily addressed through mitigation measures, as described in the following sections.

Key E&S aspects associated with the project are: (i) corporate E&S management system (ESMS) and relevant procedures and plans to assess and manage the limited adverse E&S risks and impacts in line with IFC Performance Standards (PSs); (ii) E&S screening procedures for the development of new assets; (iii) labor and working conditions of company and contractors’ workers including occupational health and safety (OHS); (iv) emergency preparedness and response, including related to security incidents; (v) solid and hazardous wastes, hazardous material management, visual impacts, and electric and magnetic fields (EMF); (vi) community health and safety including infrastructure and transport safety; (vii) contractor management; (viii) security management; (ix) stakeholder engagement and grievance mechanism; and (x) biodiversity risks management.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

IFC investment is expected to be up to $ 218 million.  The acquisition price of LC and DGV, comprising part of the total project cost, is commercially sensitive and cannot be disclosed at this stage.  

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

The Project Company is a newly incorporated company in Ukraine (“NewCo”), which will be indirectly owned by NJJ (85%), fund managed by Horizon Capital (10%), and Mykhaylo Shelemba (5%).

NJJ Holding is an investment company owned by Xavier Niel, a global telecom, media, and technology investor.

Horizon Capital is a Private Equity fund manager with a focus on investments in Emerging Europe and an existing IFC client. It was founded in 2006 and has been investing in Ukraine for over 18 years.

Datagroup-Volia (“DGV”) is a fixed-line, satellite, pay TV, and retail broadband services provider. (https://www.datagroup.ua)

Lifecell Group provides mobile communication and data transfer services, mobile tower operations, and outsourcing call centers, through three separate entities (Urktower, Global Bilgi & Lifecell; collectively, “Lifecell Group” or “LC”). (https://www.lifecell.ua)

Mykhaylo Shelemba is currently the CEO and minority-shareholder in Datagroup-Volia.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Datagroup-Volia Undisclosed -
- - - - HORIZON CAPITAL Client -
- - - - Lifecell Group Undisclosed -
- - - - NJJ Capital SASU Client -

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Datagroup PJSC
Marianna Razumnaya
Legal and Compliance Executive
+380 44 538 00 08
Marianna.Razumnaya@datagroup.ua
Simi Brodskykh St, 31/33, Kyiv, Ukraine, 03057
www.datagroup.ua

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

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How it works