Afendikov Leonid Andreevich

Biography

2025: Appointment as CEO of Copernicus-Invest 3 JSC

At the end of May 2025, it became known that Leonid Afendikov was appointed to the post of General Director of Copernicus-Invest 3 JSC, which owns 100% of the shares of VimpelCom PJSC (beeline brand). In this post, he replaced Alexander Torbakhov, chairman of the board of directors of VimpelCom.

Torbakhov held the position of general director of VimpelCom from 2020 to 2024. He is the founder of Copernicus-Invest 3, as well as Copernicus-Invest and Copernicus-Invest 2. All three companies were registered in November 2022 before the sale of VimpelCom by the Veon telecom holding to the management of the Russian operator led by Torbakhov.

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Фото: Igor Ivanko/Kommersant

According to Interfax, Copernicus-Invest 3 became the buyer of a 100% stake in VimpelCom. In accordance with the changes reflected in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Afendikov headed this structure, as well as Copernicus-Invest and Copernicus-Invest 2. As of May 26, 2025, this change is not specified. It is known that Afendikov is the senior director of Alfa Group, historically the main investor in VimpelCom.

The beeline website says that as a result of the release of VimpelCom from the international holding Veon in the fall of 2023 and the accompanying restructuring, the operator became a completely Russian company and got rid of a number of restrictions. Under the leadership of Torbakhov, the organization conducted an "anti-crisis program": it put the client at the center of its strategy, improved the quality of communication, modernized the sales network, client service and support, and headed for the security of retail and corporate clients. In addition, the beeline modernized the network infrastructure throughout the country, and also created its own IT competence. The company headed for the development of non-telecom B2B products (cloud, AdTech, etc.).^[1]

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