Veon appointed a new chairman and board members, including former Telecom Italia CEO Amos Genish, as the operator looks to enhance its core business and expand into fresh fields.

In a statement, the group said Gennady Gazin took the reins of the board yesterday (1 June), replacing Ursula Burns, chair since July 2017. The new board members were appointed during Veon’s AGM and bring the total to 12.

In addition to Genish, the selections include Hans-Holger Albrecht, head of music streaming service Deezer and a former CEO at Millicom; one-time chief commercial digital officer at Telefonica, Mariano de Beer; Peter Derby, a founding partner of US investment outfit Concinnity Advisors; and former Vodafone Group CTO Steve Pusey.

Gazin noted each new board member brings “complementary skills and experience, further positioning Veon to strengthen its core connectivity business while expanding into new areas such as digital financial services”.

Burns noted Veon was “well positioned with a strong executive team” to continue its strategy: the board thanked her for running the company through its transformation phase.