Moscow – July 13, 2010 –– Rostelecom (RTS, MICEX: RTKM, RTKMP; OTCQX: ROSYY) (“the Company”) today announced the decision of its Board of Directors to appoint Alexander Provotorov, First Deputy General Director of Svyazinvest, as Rostelecom’s General Director. Alexander Provotorov will take over the position from Anton Kolpakov.
Alexander Provotorov Biography
- Born on November 7, 1974 in Moscow.
- Graduated from the Law department of M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1996.
- 2001-2003 – Head of the legal department of Gazprom Media, member of the Management Board.
- 2003-2005 – Vice-president of the investment department of Sputnik Group.
- 2005-2009 – General Director of Marshal Capital.
- Since 2009 Alexander Provotorov has held the position of First Deputy General Director of Svyazinvest.
The Board believes that at the moment, consistent implementation of all integration procedures and creation of the organizational structure of the consolidated Rostelecom is the key task facing the Company. The appointment of Alexander Provotorov to the position of General Director will bring additional expertise to this process having been in charge of the development of the consolidated company’s strategies, the organizational structure and integration of the business of the Svyazinvest’s companies.
On behalf of the Board, the Chairman Evgeny Yurchenko thanked Anton Kolpakov for his commitment and huge accomplishments. Mr. Yurchenko’s stated: “The Company under Anton Kolpakov’s leadership has managed to lay a solid foundation for business growth in the new services segment.”
Anton Kolpakov has been offered to continue working for the united company.

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Source: [http://www.modernrussia.com]

NEW DELHI | KOLKATA: The Intelligence Bureau has asked the telecom department to stop Nokia's popular messaging services in India until they can be monitored, another sign of the growing discomfort of the country's spooks with similar offerings they view as suspect from a security angle.

The security agency has written to the DoT that it is against the continuation of the Finnish company's push email service for corporates and consumers that allows the easy management of multiple accounts, said a DoT official familiar with the matter. The communiqué, a copy of which is with ET, shows that this is not the first time that the agency has brought the issue to the DoT's notice.

The IB had issued a similar warning against BlackBerry services, another mode of communication favoured by corporate clients, Google's Gmail and internet telephony firm Skype earlier this month.

Nokia launched a beta version of the messaging service in April 2009. All leading cellular operators offer the service, which the company's advertisements claim allows consumers to use up to 10 email accounts on the move.

The service became an instant hit, with the company signing up more than 1 lakh activations a month in India, vaulting it to the top five markets globally. Nearly 50% of Nokia's E Series smartphones sold in the country get activated for emails.

A Nokia India spokesperson said its messaging email service is still in the beta format in India, and that "the requisite infrastructure required by security agencies is being put in place". BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, which has a million customers, and Nokia collectively account for nearly all the corporate email consumers on mobile phones in the country.

Though the IB warnings cast a shadow over their services, it remains to be seen if the DoT acts. The department is yet to move against BlackBerry, Gmail and Skype. The frustration running through the security establishment with DoT's failure to act is evident in the communiqué.

Moscow, Russian Federation – Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (“MTS” – NYSE: MBT), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, announces that it has secured a credit facility in the amount of up to approximately EUR 300 million backed by Finland’s export credit agency Finnvera plc to be used for the development of the Company’s mobile networks in Russia and Ukraine through purchases of equipment and services from Nokia Siemens Networks.

The facility will have an 8-year maturity and carry a six-month EURIBOR+1.65% interest rate.

The banks facilitating the transaction are BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, and Societe Generale.

Source: [http://www.rustocks.com]

Ekaterinburg – June 30, 2009 – Uralsvyazinform (RTS: URSI/URSIP) the leading carrier of fixed-line and mobile services in the Urals region, Russia, presents the non-audited consolidated financial interim statements for 3 month ended March 31, 2010 prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Since the IAS statement for 3 month period was done for the first time, comparative data for relevant period are not presented.

Moscow, Russia – June 30, 2010 – Sistema (the “Group”) (LSE: SSA), the largest diversified public financial corporation in Russia and the CIS, which invests in and is a major shareholder of companies operating in different industries, today announced the decisions made at its Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) of shareholders, which was held on June 26, 2010. The AGM quorum was 79.28% of the total number of eligible voters. All the resolutions proposed at the AGM were duly passed.

The AGM approved the Company’s 2009 Annual Report and 2009 annual financial statements under Russian Accounting Standards. The AGM also approved the payment of a dividend of RUB 0.055 per share (approximately US$ 0.035 per Global Depositary Receipt), which amounts to RUB 530,750,000.00 (approximately US$ 17.0 million) in total.

The shareholders approved the election of the members of the Board of Directors, which comprises the following:

• Alexander Goncharuk – Non-executive Board Director
  
• Vladimir Evtushenkov – Non-executive Board Director
  
• Ron Sommer – Executive Board Director
  
• Dmitry Zubov - Non-executive Board Director
  
• Vyacheslav Kopiev - Non-executive Board Director
  
• Robert Kocharyan – Independent Board Director
  
• Roger Munnings - Independent Board Director
  
• Leonid Melamed – Executive Board Director
  
• Rajiv Mehrotra – Non-executive Board Director
  
• Evgeny Novitsky - Independent Board Director
  
• Sergey Cheremin - Non-executive Board Director
  
• Roger Munnings was appointed as a new Independent Board Director.

Moscow, Russia – June 29, 2010 – “COMSTAR – United TeleSystems” JSC (“Comstar” or “the Group”) (LSE: CMST), the largest integrated telecommunications provider in Moscow and 82 Russian cities, announces the results of its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, held on June 29, 2010.

The Meeting decided not to pay any dividend for the full year 2009, due to the losses reported for the full year under Russian Accounting Standards (RSA) and US GAAP.

The Meeting approved the following composition of the Board of Directors of Comstar-UTS:

1. Ulf Backmeyer, Deputy Director of Finance in MTS-Russia Business Unit

2. Mikhail Gerchuk, Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Mobile TeleSystems

3. Ruslan Ibragimov, Vice President For Corporate And Legal Matters at Mobile TeleSystems

4. Konstantin Markov, Director of Moscow Macro-Region at Mobile TeleSystems

5. Evgeny Olkhovsky, Head of Strategic Planning and Control at Mobile TeleSystems

6. Sergey Pridantsev, President of Comstar-UTS