Outgoing Veon co-CEO Sergi Herrero (pictured, left) explained the company was on the lookout for a successor to join fellow executive Kaan Terzioglu as he detailed some of the reasons behind his planned departure.

Herrero told Mobile World Live (MWL) he felt the time was right to depart Veon after the company shifted governance of its digital strategy from a centralised to more localised model.

“I felt it was a good moment to take a step aside and let the local teams continue to run with the things that we built”, Herrero explained, adding a replacement would be announced in due course.

Co-CEO Kaan Terzioglu (pictured, right) emphasised an ongoing advisory role for Herrero, explaining the former executive would be on hand at times when “important, big bets and venture decisions” need to be made.

“I think it was very critical that we build a strong strategy, driving our growth in both the telecoms’ side and the ventures’ side. Now it’s really time to do the routine, mundane execution and it’s important that we accelerate on that”, Terzioglu added.

Net income attributable to Veon shareholders grew 19.8 per cent year-on-year to $129 million in Q1, on revenue of $1.9 million, down 5.1 per cent.

Its overall 4G user base increased by 21.4 million to 86.8 million, boosted by network investments and customer experience enhancements.

Terzioglu hailed the 4G customer gains as “a good sign that our business is set for growth for the rest of the year”.