Veon finalised a deal to sell its mobile towers in Russia to a domestic company for RUB70.7 billion ($957.4 million), a move CEO Kaan Terzioglu (pictured) predicted will unlock the value of the company’s infrastructure assets and increase its financial flexibility.

The transaction was announced in September and completed after being green lit by the necessary regulators, Veon explained in a statement.

As a result, Russian tower company Service-Telecom now operates approximately 15,400 towers in the country which were previously run by Veon’s subsidiary National Tower Company.

Veon received a payment of RUB64.4 billion at the closing of the deal, with the remainder due to be covered within the next three years.

The company explained it will use the cash to cut debt, which in Q3 amounted to $8.2 billion.

At the time of sealing the deal, Terzioglu said the proceeds will be poured into “critical aspects” of active network and digital services.

He noted the completion will enable “the release of capital to further optimise Veon’s balance sheet while at the same time achieving more financial flexibility for the group”.

Nikolay Berdin, CEO of Service-Telecom, described the deal as “historical” as he claimed it was the first-ever tower transaction in the market.