In AEC, MegaFon is represented in the Arctic Economic Council by Gevork Vermishyan, CEO of MegaFon.

Mr. Vermishyan has been leading the company since November 2018. Prior to that, he served as MegaFon CFO and Executive Director at different points in time. Still longer ago, in 2002 through 2007, he worked for LUKOIL where he rose through the ranks from an analyst to Deputy Head of Corporate Borrowings at Banks and Financial Markets Division.

MegaFon is a national Russian operator of digital capabilities that occupies leading positions in many segments of Russia’s telecommunication market, serving 75.4 million subscribers. The company offers mobile and landline telecommunication, internet access, digital TV services, innovative products and services in the areas of analytics and big data processing, cloud solutions, and cybersecurity.

Besides offering digital services to its subscribers and corporate customers, MegaFon is pursuing several projects of a global reach. One of these projects is Arctic Connect. MegaFon pursues this project jointly with Cinia Oy, a Finnish infrastructure operator; the memorandum creating the international consortium was signed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2019.

The project implies laying of Arctic Connect, a fiber-optic telecommunication line connecting Europe and Asia across the floor of the Arctic Ocean, along Russia’s Arctic coast. It will connect the continents housing 85% of the global population, assuring the fastest connect with minimum delay rates. Branches from the main line will bring high-quality telecommunication service to users in the Arctic and the Far East, including energy sector entities. In early 2021, agreements regarding the plans to build such branches have been already signed with the governments of Sakha (Yakut) Republic, Komi Republic and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.

The project has successfully passed an environmental audit undertaken by the Federal Nature Management Oversight Service that confirmed safety of the project activities.

Country: The Russian Federation

Russia, Arctic Partner