The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) decided on Thursday to fine PJSC Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecoms operator, UAH 17.5 million, saying the company had disseminated misleading information, while Kyivstar denies violating competition legislation and will appeal the decision in court.
"The company does not share the AMCU’s preliminary conclusions regarding the use of the advertising claim ‘№1 mobile internet speed’ and considers them unsubstantiated," Kyivstar said in comments provided to Interfax-Ukraine in response to the AMCU’s announcement of the fine.
Kyivstar said it respects the Antimonopoly Committee’s role in ensuring fair competition and protecting consumer rights and cooperates constructively with the committee, but said using research results from independent international company Ookla to support marketing claims is common practice on the global electronic communications market.
"Kyivstar applied exactly this approach, properly disclosing information about the data source, the research period and other material conditions for using its results," the company said, insisting that its communications complied with the requirements of current legislation and that consumers were given all the information necessary to properly understand the advertising message.
As previously reported, Kyivstar Group’s EBITDA profit rose 30% to UAH 27 billion in 2025 on revenue growth of 30.3% to UAH 48.2 billion.
The company’s subscriber base stood at 22 million at the end of the first quarter of this year.
