The board of the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has approved funding for Vodafone Ukraine, the country’s second-largest mobile operator, which is wholly owned by NEQSOL Holding. The DFC announced the deal in a press release on September 16 but did not disclose the amount.
The money is meant to strengthen and modernize critical telecom infrastructure as the war continues. The DFC also says US companies operating and investing in Ukraine will benefit from access to secure, reliable 5G infrastructure.
The Vodafone Ukraine deal is part of a broader package of more than $8 billion in investments approved by the DFC board. One more Ukrainian project made the list. It covers battery energy storage systems for energy company DTEK, with 200 MW/400 MWh of capacity across six sites in Ukraine.
The DFC is a US government finance institution created in 2019 from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and USAID’s lending arm. It provides loans and credit guarantees, makes equity investments, and offers political risk insurance for projects in emerging markets. At the end of fiscal year 2025, its active portfolio stood at about $43.4 billion.
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Among Ukrainian operators, Vodafone Ukraine ranked second by revenue in 2025, behind only Kyivstar. According to Ukraine’s telecom regulator NCEC, the company brought in UAH 25.59 billion, compared with UAH 44.16 billion for the market leader and UAH 15.74 billion for third-place lifecell.
In the first half of 2026, the operator grew its consolidated net profit by 14.2% year over year to UAH 1.9 billion. Revenue rose 10.6% to UAH 14.9 billion over the same period. Vodafone Ukraine had 15.1 million customers in the second quarter, and its contract subscriber base grew to 3.3 million.
Over the same six months, the operator invested more than UAH 3.5 billion in restoring and developing its network, in line with the first half of 2025. It is also continuing to test 5G. The first coverage zones are already live in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, and Borodianka, and in September Vodafone started testing in Odesa as well.
