Urban Mobility Expands
Kyivstar Subsidiary Uklon Acquires E-wings, Expanding Ukrainian Urban Mobility Services
Anonymous
Ukraine's leading ride-hailing app Uklon has signed a deal to buy electric scooter company E-wings for UAH 97.6 million — about $2.2 million — giving it control of roughly 3,000 scooters across 11 Ukrainian cities. The move marks Uklon's first step into micromobility and is the latest push by its parent, Kyivstar Group, to build a single app covering every type of city travel, according to Yahoo Finance.
Uklon CEO Serhii Hryshkov said the vision is clear: "Enabling urban mobility requires more than a single product — it demands an entire ecosystem of transportation options for consumers." The E-wings deal is expected to close in Q3 2026, after which scooter rentals will appear directly inside the Uklon app, according to Market Screener.
Uklon's Rapid Rise Inside Kyivstar's Digital Empire
Uklon was not always part of Kyivstar. In March 2025, Kyivstar paid $155.2 million for a 97% stake in the ride-hailing platform — the largest tech M&A deal in wartime Ukraine. Forbes Ukraine later named it the "Deal of the Year 2025." Kyivstar Group then listed on Nasdaq in August 2025 under the ticker KYIV, giving it access to international capital markets, according to Weekly Voice.
Since the acquisition, Uklon has moved fast. It launched "Uklon Travel" in March 2026, letting users book intercity bus tickets — a vital service since air travel in Ukraine remains grounded. By May 2026, Uklon was running Ukraine's first live robotaxi tests at Boryspil International Airport. In Q3 2025, it logged 42.2 million rides and surpassed $100 million in annualized revenue, according to Yahoo Finance.
E-wings Brings Scooters, Cities, and a Last-Mile Edge
E-wings was founded in Lviv and now operates in 11 cities including Odesa and Chernihiv. Its roughly 3,000 electric scooters fill a gap that ride-hailing apps cannot: short trips of a few blocks that are too small for a car but too far to walk. E-wings co-founder Roman Motruk said the merger lets the company "operate at greater scale" and make "short-distance travel more efficient," according to Market Screener.
Once integrated, Uklon users will be able to call a taxi, rent a scooter, or buy a bus ticket from one app and one account balance. That kind of bundled service — called Mobility-as-a-Service — is exactly what Uklon's rivals like Bolt cannot yet offer in Ukraine. Uklon already covers 27 Ukrainian cities plus Tashkent, Uzbekistan, according to Yahoo Finance.
VEON's 'Digital Operator' Strategy Powers the Expansion
The E-wings buy fits a broader plan by VEON — Kyivstar's global parent, listed on Nasdaq as VEON — called "DO1440." The name stands for Digital Operator 1440 minutes a day. VEON Group CEO Kaan Terzioglu said Uklon is "building an integrated mobility ecosystem that serves customers across the full spectrum of transportation needs." The goal is to make Kyivstar's 24 million subscribers reliant on one platform for healthcare, transport, and entertainment, according to Yahoo Finance.
VEON has invested $1.3 billion in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. Rather than buying physical assets — which are vulnerable to missile strikes — Kyivstar has focused on digital platforms like health app Helsi and now Uklon. The E-wings deal also includes a commitment to pay 23% in taxes, including a military levy, directly to the Ukrainian state budget, according to Weekly Voice.
Monopoly Concerns Grow as Kyivstar Dominates Daily Life
Not everyone is cheering. Kyivstar now controls Ukraine's largest mobile network, its top health app, and the country's leading ride-hailing service. Critics warn that adding a scooter fleet tightens what some analysts call a "walled garden" — a closed ecosystem that locks users in and makes it harder for competitors to compete. That concern is growing louder as Uklon's advertising arm gains access to richer data on how Ukrainians move, live, and spend.
Ukraine's parliament is also catching up. Draft laws No. 15283 and 15284 were introduced in early June 2026 to formally define "small electric vehicles" and set rules on helmets, speed limits, and road use. Those rules will shape how E-wings' scooters can operate once they move under Uklon's brand. The regulatory and competitive landscape is shifting fast — and Uklon is betting it can stay ahead of both, according to Market Screener.
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