Veon’s Russian subsidiary VimpelCom reportedly plans to discontinue its own stores. The telecom company listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange would like to close some of its branches and transfer the rest to franchise partners, thereby reducing costs amid the corona crisis. This is reported by the Russian business newspaper Vedomosti on the basis of insiders. VimpelCom has more than 4,600 stores, including both its own subsidiaries and franchise stores. The company is busy optimizing its retail network, but has not made public what those plans entail.