7 августа '08
The Russian Telecommunications Market Development in June-July 2008
1. General Trends of the Market Development
VimpelCom has combined mobile and fixed-line communications
Sky Link has started selling EV-DO routers
The Russian cell operator Sky Link has started selling EV-DO routers. The sale has begun in regions where the operator works. Sky Link has begun to sell a range of new modems, supporting EV-DO Rev.A. The new modems are based on wireless routers, receiving a signal in EV-Do standard and distributing it with the use of Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Multifunction facilities, combining different technology, will allow to provide more convenient access to services for subscribers and they follow the general trend of the market to the terminal equipment convergence. Within the year 2008 the company is planning to introduce 20 new models of phones and modems, supporting high-speed mobile Internet EV-DO. MTS and MegaFon have also declared about the introduction of analog routers to the market (supporting UMTS standard). The operators are planning to start selling the new facilities in the nearest future. Primarily Huawei company will be a supplier of the equipment for MegaFon, though in future the operator is planning to attract other producers. Such routers may become an optimal decision for small business when creating a communications network in the office. According to experts, the market has been expecting for such facilities for a long time. It is the simplest and the most logical step for Internet access services provision to small companies. Sky Link gets the better as the company started selling in all its regions simultaneously. Primarily around 5 thousand facilities went on sale and in future Sky Link will be guided by the demand for new facilities in each region.
UTK is creating a virtual operator: prospect
MegaFon is ready to redeem assets before an IPO holding
SMARTS is planning to hold an IPO
2. Players of the Market
Leonid Melamed headed MTS in April of 2006. Previously he had been working in the insurance company Rosno for 15 years.
Over 8 months he had increased the capitalization of MTS from 13 bn USD to 20 bn USD. Over two years the company’s price had grown 2.6 times and the revenue had increased 60%. The revenues of MegaFon and VimpelCom were growing faster and in the total revenue of the Big 3 the share of MTS reduced from 47.2% to 39.1% in 2005-2007.
Some experts suppose, Aleksandr Goncharuk will remain in Sistema. According to others, Goncharuk will take an executive position in the company. The main Melamed’s merit is that he managed to maintain the leading position of MTS in
Melamed’s quit is not good news for MTS, but it is very positive for Sistema. The future president of AFK is a universal manager that is important for Sistema with its various interests. According to experts, Melamed’s appointment will not affect MTS because the operator can avoid inadequate interference of the major shareholder in its business.
In December of 2006 Golden Telecom bought 51% of Corbina shares from Mamut and Vekselberg in exchange for 8% of GT shares worth over 130 mln USD, paying in addition around 10 mln USD for control. This February VimpelCom has finished the transaction on acquisition of a 100% share of GT for 4.3 bn USD. After that VimpelCom began to negotiate about the consolidation of Corbina. At present VimpelCom possesses enough funds: in May the company finished placing European bonds worth 2 bn USD, 1.5 bn of which were promised to be spent on the credit repayment.
According to analysts, the consolidation of Corbina can strengthen VimpelCom’s position on the regional market of broadband Internet access, where its share must reach 20% by 2012. The operator’s plans are realistic, experts say. After the transaction the operator will probably double the budget of GT and Corbina (to 3 bn USD).
To connect to Fon network a subscriber must set a special WiFi router (
Comstar’s subscribers will be able to rent LaFonera routers from this summer. At first the rent will be free of charge, but from
Experts’ opinions on the prospects of the WiFi network, launched by Comstar, vary. According to some of them, the project will be successful. Others say, it will be hardly profitable. GT will be the major competitor, analysts say.
The company’s net profit has increased because of the proceeds growth and the reduction of payments to Russian operators due to the development of the own sales infrastructure. At present the company’s profit is growing due to data communications services. Rostelecom’s revenue from Internet access services has multiplied 5.3 times to around 1.1 bn roubles over 2007. At the same time Rostelecom’s revenue from communications services has not changed almost. The revenue of the company from DLD has just increased 1.9% compared to 2006 and the outcoming ILD traffic has reduced.
Analysts agree in the opinion on Rostelecom’s position on the market: after the demonopolization the company had losses, however, it managed to redirect its efforts to new services, which bring in the main income to the company. In 2008 the company’s income can be close to zero, though it is expectable and normal in the present conditions, experts say.
On the whole, despite considerable losses, caused by the telecoms market demonopolization, Rostelecom has remained a competitive company, and its figures for 2007 are assessed as positive. Analysts even speak of the optimistic forecast of the company’s development according to which the company can become a leader in its sector.
A year ago the company was managed by Aleksandr Ivanov, Nikolai Demenchuk, Yevgeni Sekerin, Pavel Kaplunov and Mikhail Margolin. Kaplunov and Margolin called themselves main shareholders of Start Telecom. The company’s shares also belonged to the head of Goskomsvyaz Aleksandr Ivanov, acting as director general of Start Telecom for several years.
Two new members of the Board of directors, Nikolai Krilov and David Chupak, are representatives of Alisher Usmanov. At that Nikolai Krilov is also a member of the Board of directors of Kommersant. The Publishing House, belonging to Alisher Usmanov. The former heads of the company Pavel Kaplunov and Mikhail Margolin confirmed they had quitted the chartered capital of Start Telecom.
The rest three seats in the Board have been taken by Viktor Ritikov, Dmitry Kononov and Anton Alekseev. Thus, the rumours that Jeffry Galmond is the main shareholder of the company, have been confirmed. Previously Viktor Ritikov, elected Chairman of Start Telecom’s Board of directors, was a member of the Board of directors of the Svyaz Bank, the control shareholding of which belonged to RTK-Leasing, owned by Jeffry Galmond.
Dmitry Kononov, financial director of MegaFon in 2001-2004, acted as an advisor to the Board of directors of the First National Holding S.A. Recently he has become a member of the Board of directors of MTT, representing Gamma Capital, which belongs to Galmond, too.
The links between Galmond’s structures and Start Telecom are also confirmed by Start Telecom’s transactions with ISG and TM-Leasing, the decision about which was taken at the meeting of shareholders of Start Telecom, the first company, in which Usmanov and Galmond had become partners, despite the repeated big transactions they had made with each other.
A year ago Usmanov, using AF Telekom Holding, acquired a 15% share of Telekominvest from the North-Western Telecom. In May of 2008 Usmanov bought the Luxemburg offshore company the First National Holding S.A., the owner of which, the Danish lawyer Jeffrey Galmond, owned a 58.9% share of Telecominvest. As a result Usmanov’s share in Telecominvest came to 73.9%. 15% of Telecomivest was sold for 410 mln USD. Simultaneously Usmanov acquired a 8% share of MegaFon from IPOC fund, another offshore company, belonging to Galmond. Thus, Usmanov has got a 31.13% share of the cell operator.
In 2007 the revenue of Start Telecom was trebled almost compared to the previous year, to over 37 mln USD. EBITDA was 4.5 mln USD. The total amount of investments exceeded 420 mln USD in 2007.
According to experts, 18 mln USD is a good price for 49% of Start Telecom shares. Usmanov will acquire the rest shares of the company, experts say. Though according to some experts, the shareholding will be probably resold. The redemption of telecoms assets by Usmanov is a political decision mostly, analysts say.
Sistema is ready to invest 1 bn USD in Byelorussia
Previously the Byelorussian government signed the agreement with Sistema, according to which the state agreed to sell 2% of the Byelorussian MTS in addition to already acquired 49% of shares.
According to analysts’ estimates, 2% of the Byelorussian MTS costs 20-30 mln USD. However, the conditions of the transaction are determined by political relations between
Synterra will renew WiMAX network
In April of 2006 Synterra finished the construction of the wireless broadband access network. The network Synterra WiMAX consists of 40 base stations, connected to the own fiber-optic network Synterra, the spread of which is over 2 thousand km in
Synterra uses the equipment of the American company NextNet Wireless Inc. for its
The market participants suppose WiMAX is no more a strategic direction for Synterra, Recently the company has stopped to connect new subscribers. According to experts, it will take 3-5 month to choose and test the new equipment.
Enforta is planning to enter the CIS market
The company’s management sees a lot of interesting projects in the CIS. In particular, there are companies, owning a frequency resource, which look for an experienced partner to work on the market of wireless Internet access. First of all the company is interested in the markets of
Synterra has not planned to enter the CIS market yet. According to the company’s representatives, there are a lot of places in
WiMAX services are in great demand on the CIS market, experts say. When developing the network Enforta will face the competition from the direction of wired operators, especially in big cities. At that penetration of broadband access services is very low on these markets and if the company wants to take a considerable share, it should hurry up. The main objective for the company will be to improve the network and provide WiMAX services. Thus, the company will get the better of wired Internet access operators.
Now in the CIS countries the development WiMAX services is in the very beginning even compared to Russia, analysts say. However, these markets have a good potential and the demand will grow along with the economic activity in the CIS. According to estimates of analysts, the amount of investments in WiMAX projects in the CIS will be 10-15 mln USD within the nearest 2-3 years. But in case the company decides to enter the big markets of
In August of 2004 VimpelCom declared it was going to buy Kar-Tel shares from several Kazakh entrepreneurs. The operator spent 350 mln USD on 100% of Kar-Tel and also promised to pay the company’s debt worth 75 mln USD. At that time VimpelCom declared it planned to acquire a local partner, which would be able to get a minority share of Kar-Tel. In September of 2004 VimpelCom bought 100% of Limnotex for 350 mln USD, but in 2005 the company sold 50% minus 1 share of Limnotex to Crowell company. (ComNews, 07.07.2008)
According to the estimates of analysts, VimpelCom could pay up to 700 mln USD for 24.9% of the Cyprian offshore company Limnotex Developments Limited. The transaction is very profitable for the operator, experts say. The operator has acquired an additional shareholding in the biggest operator outside
At present Synterra group is using 12.5 thousand stations of satellite communications, based on VSAT, in 83 subjects of the RF. The main Synterra’s operator of satellite communications is Global Teleport company.
The company’s revenue growth was contributed by Synterra’s megaprojects, including the national project “Education”, the cooperation with the Post of Russia, the creation of the network for the state system “ Passport and Visa of New Generation”, etc.
In 2008 the company’s management is planning to double the company’s revenue from monthly payment for VSAT services. Synterra has also created a network of regional hardware centres.
According to experts, the company’s plans are ambitious, but they are realizable if the company has a good marketing strategy in regions. The more equipment is installed, the more clients pay a license fee. In case Synterra doubles its revenue from monthly payments, the total revenue from VSAT services will increase 40% approximately.
The main revenue of the operator comes from license fees of big clients, analysts say. On the whole, for lack of communications resources, caused by rare launches of satellites, the situation on the market will change this year.
Net profit of MegaFon increased 50%
In the 1st quarter MegaFon kept to the tendency of dynamic development due to its subscriber base growth and the increasing consumption of services. The marketing initiatives of the company, directed to stimulation of its subscriber base growth, and the balanced tariff policy have contributed to the company’s figures.
On May 21 the Board of directors of MGTS confirmed the dividends for 2007 worth 4.7 roubles for one simple share contrary to 8.75 roubles for a share according to the results of
In 2008 MGTS is planning to realize several projects, which demand big investments, including the network improvement, the construction of IMS pilot zone, the creation of a call-centre, etc. Moreover, since February 1 of 2008, the company’s tariffs for local communications have been reduced. Thus, the decision to spend only 5% of net profit on dividends is reasonable from the economic point of view.
According to Svyazinvest, the decision of MGTS Board of directors infringes upon interests of the operator’s minority shareholders and demonstrates lack of loyalty from the direction of its majority shareholder, Comstar-UTS.
According to most of analysts, the main reason for the conflict is reinvesting of the potential profit.
Payment of Svyazinvest’s dividends can cause a conflict between its shareholders
According to the results of 2006, Svyazinvest paid 200.766 mln roubles (80% of net profit) as dividends. According to the results of 2005, Svyazinvest had paid 243.340 mln roubles (100% of net profit).
Svyazinvest’s management has prepared its variant of the project “On recommendation about profit distribution according to the results of 2007 to the annual meeting of shareholders”. The management offers not to pay dividends for 2007 because the holding’s subsidiaries will have to realize several big projects and some of them will not be able to attract investments independently.
According to the holding’s management, the money are also necessary to redeem a 49% share of Sahatelecom (1.4 -1.7 mln roubles) from the state and to carry out the integration of Centertelecom and Central Telegraph, that will probably take 3 mln roubles.
The conflict will not affect the company’s activity, analysts say.
In 2006 MegaFon obtained a free money flow (240 mln USD) for the first time. Representatives of TeliaSonera offered to pay dividends to the operator’s shareholders. However, two members of the Board of directors, representing Telecominvest, objected: the profit was necessary for investments in the company’s development.
In the beginning of May the ex-owner of 58.9% of Telecominvest Jeffrey Galmond sold his shareholding to AF Telecom Holding, belonging to Alisher Usmanov. Simultaneously he signed the agreement about the sale of 8% of MegaFon, which belonged to his IPOC fund.
Analysts have different opinions on the position of Telecominvest’s representatives in MegaFon’s Board. According to one of them, Telecominvest’s representatives pursue corporate interests: Telecominvest does not want to share net profit with Alfa Group. According to other analysts, they are also interested in the profit maintenance for its further reinvestment.
IPO of MegaFon: shareholders have disagreed
MegaFon was planning to hold an IPO in 2003-2004 as the company wanted to attract investments for its development. But the disputes between the operator’s shareholders caused postponing of an IPO. IPOC fund, owning 8% of MegaFon, claimed for a 25.1% shareholding, which had been sold to LV Finance by Alfa Group. The litigation was finished only in 2008. The disputable shareholding remained in Alfa Group and IPOC was charged with money-laundering. The shares of IPOC in MegaFon and Telecominvest were sold to Alisher Usmanov.
According to analysts, the operator will hold an IPO within a year. Concerning Alfa’s position, analysts agree in the opinion that Fridman wants to maintain the control over the asset.
According to analysts, Telenor’s suit to the Federal Circuit Court of New York is mainly a political action, directed towards Alfa’s negative image creation. At that a positive decision of the court for Farimex Products will hardly be obtained, analysts say. As the dispute between VimpelCom’s shareholders is being considered in different courts, the final decision will be taken during negotiations. Farimex Products was probably founded by Alfa to take part in hearings, experts say.
In the beginning of June MGTS made a complaint about MegaFon to the Federal Antimonopoly Service. MGTS charged the cell company with unfair competition.
MegaFon had not got a contract about the direct connection to MGTS, so the operator transited its calls through other “local’ networks (Synterra, Makomnet, Central Telegraph). The procedure, according to which an operator uses a zone network of other operator and connects to MGTS, is not prohibited by law, and a cell company can save up to 20% of a call cost.
In respond to the supposedly incorrect ads, MGTS has blocked the transit of zone traffic from the operators, connected on the local level. Due to the disconnection of MegaFon Synterra’s losses are assessed at several millions roubles. It is not improbable that the company will try to recover the money from MGTS in court.
At present MegaFon is connecting to MGTS through other networks, connected on the zone level (for instance, MTT). It is known MegaFon is negotiating with MGTS about the direct connection. According to experts, the forecasts of the conflict are different. Both companies’ actions cannot be considered as illegal as they have not made a contract, regulating MegaFon’s access to MGTS network. On other hand, the regulator may interfere in the conflict. MegaFon and MGTS can also make a contract about the direct connection.
MGTS was inspected for the second time. Rossvyaznadzor’s actions were probably initiated by numerous complaints of the subscribers, who had to pay more than it was promised by the state. As MGTS is one of the operators, taking “a considerable position in the network of communications for general use” its tariff policy must be regulated by the state.
According to analysts, MGTS is actually a monopolist on the market of fixed-line communications in
In April of 2006 at the annual meeting Comkor’s shareholders made a decision about additional issue and floatation via closed subscription of 1.5 thousand shares in favour of Renova Media holding, working under Akado brand. Due to the additional issue the stakes of Comkor’s shareholders halved. In July of 2006 the government of
The Property Department of Moscow voted against this decision and it was given a right of pre-emption of the proportional amount of the additional issues.
On September of 2008 the court of first appearance and later the 9th Arbitration court of Appeal of
On May 27 of 2008 the Presidium of SAC ordered to abolish the decision and orders of the previous courts. According to lawyers, the decision of SAC is final and is not a subject of appeal.
Conversion of frequencies has been postponed
Two tenders for a contractor for frequency range clearing, declared by Rossvyaz this April, has been postponed till next month. The results had to be announced on June 3rd and 5th. However, the tenders will be announced again and the results will be summed up on June 23rd of 2008. According to Rossvyaz, the tenders have been postponed because of the rework of their criteria.
This April Rossvyaz has announced a tender for a contractor for frequency range clearing. In May according to Article 21 of the Federal Law of 21.07.2005 #94 “On Placing of Orders for Delivery of Goods, Execution of Works and Provision of Services for the State and Municipal Needs”, Rossvyaz refused to carry out the tenders #1 and #2. Due to it the candidates’ applications will be only opened on June 9th and considered on June 17th. The results will be summed up on June 23rd of 2008.
According to experts, at present Rossvyaz is not engaged in the problems of electromagnetic compatibility of electronic facilities. These functions have been given to the Radio Frequency Centre. Thus, financing has been re-distributed.
GPKS has asserted a claim worth 113 thousand USD to the Dutchmen
The operators of telecommunications Euraisacrossing and International Telecommunication Services were using the satellite resource of GPKS, but they did not pay for the services. The Dutch companies were reorganized and they do not use a resource on Russian satellites anymore.
The first session of the Arbitration Court of Moscow concerning the claim of GPKS was held in November of 2006, but the defendants did not appear. They also did not appear at the next three sessions, carried out since the beginning of 2008.
According to lawyers, a default of one party does not prevent legal investigation, in case the parties were properly informed about time and place of the hearing. As a rule, the court postpones a hearing, informing parties about a new date of the hearing. In case defaults are constant, the claim is considered in the absence of a defendant.
Six investors are now negotiating about the sale of SMARTS. In case the transaction is not carried out, 20-30% of the operator’s shares will be floated on exchange. As before an IPO holding the company must be transformed to a public company, the decision of the court is important for the operator.
Nevertheless, some analysts do not believe SMARTS will hold an IPO. According to them, it is much easier and faster to sell the business to Russian companies, well-informed what SMARTS is, than to float shares on exchange. To hold an IPO it will be necessary to hold a road-show, to hire consultants, to persuade investors that the asset is attractive.
According to experts, many investors are interested in SMARTS in
According to most experts, MTS is the most probable purchaser. The transaction will help MTS to maintain the leading position on the market. Besides, the company possesses enough funds for the purchase.
2.1 GHz range is used to provide services of 3G standard UMTS, the facilities of which are compatible with 2G networks. So, GSM operators are the main candidates for UMTS-frequencies. CDMA operators work in 800 MHz range in
However, after the recent procedure of frequency distribution in India the number of national CDMA operators increased from two to four – Reliance Communications and Tata TeleServices were added by the state-owned BSNL (previously it had provided services of fixed-line communications) and Shyam Telelink, acquired by the Russian AFK Sistema. Previously, the Telecom Regulator authority of
According to experts, not having a possibility to distribute 3G frequencies between all CDMA operators the regulator had to postpone settling of the matter. There are proposals in
SMARTS is lobbying amendments to the law “On Communications”
The Samara deputies have approved the project of amendments to the law “On Communications”, initiated by SMARTS, according to which operators must pay for actual use of frequencies.
Today there can be a one year period from obtaining a license for a frequency and till the beginning of its using and all this time an operator must pay for a frequency use. Due to it in 2007 SMARTS lost over 100 mln roubles. The deputies propose to increase a minimal license term from 3 to 5 years.
According to analysts, the total losses of all operators from the law imperfection can come to 50-100 mln USD. They also assert the law changing will make communications services cheaper for subscribers. The draft will be sent to the profile committee of State Duma for coordination, then it must be approved in the regional Duma and in the State Duma.
Presently the Federal Service on Control in the field of Communications, the Federal Agency on IT, the Federal Agency of Communications and the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications are subordinated to the Ministry.
According to the resolution, the Ministry was returned the functions of frequency distribution between operators and issue of licenses to them. These authorities were lost by the Ministry in June of 2007 when these functions were given to Rossvyaznadzor. Besides, the Ministry controls “requirement to the order of communications networks interaction”, “requirements to engineering, building and use of communications networks”, “the state’s interests protection in the field of copyright” and “the order of conduction of separate calculation of expenses and incomes on activity categories by operators, which take a considerable position in the network for general use”.
As a result, the Ministry fulfils the most important functions on the control over the telecommunications sector, including the regulation of inter-operator relationships and traffic connection, the distribution of number capacity, the acceptance of networks from operators and the control over operators’ activity.
Analysts do not expect serious changes in the Ministry’s policy. The return of the functions on frequency distribution and licensing is a logical step, regulating the regulator’s work, analysts say. They agree in opinion that the sector cannot be self-regulated fully, though they note the changes conform to the interests of the market.
According to NDA principle, in the frameworks of the service an operator provides other operator with an access to structures of duct bank, technical premises and communications links.
At that the law does not regulate prices for this service. Operators will set acceptable prices themselves, while the Ministry is ready to act as a supervisor for those, offering very high tariffs. The Ministry’s initiatives are targeted to the change of the statutory and legal base, i.e. to set more clear and transparent rules for the market participants.
The amendments to the law are to facilitate an access to networks of interregional companies (MRK), dominating in regions, for alternative operators. On other hand after NDA principle introduction alternative operators will have a possibility to demolish the monopoly of the big operators (GT, Orange Business Services, Comstar-UTS, etc) for the telecoms infrastructure.
As a whole the Ministry’s attempt to give alternative operators an access to the telecoms infrastructure can contribute to the monopoly removal in the field of communications, experts say. Making the amendment to the law “On Communications” is assessed by experts as a positive initiative, though it is not possible to assess effectiveness of the innovations yet, lawyers say.
Analysts assess positively the fact of the first meeting between Minister of Communications Igor Shegolev and heads of the
The Association has sent a corresponding offer to GKRC. According to the main point of the proposal it is necessary to give an operator an opportunity to choose independently which base stations it will use for certain frequencies ranges.
According to the existing rules of frequencies receiving, if an operator decides to change equipment somewhere, it will have to obtain a new decision of GKRC, and this procedure is long and complex, experts say. In case GKRC changes the procedure of frequency distribution, networks will be put into operation more quickly. According to experts, this process is too protracted. To set a Wi-Fi base station an operator has to submit this matter with the Major Radio Frequency Centre, the Ministry of Defense and the Federal Service of Protection (up to 75 days), then to draw up a license for frequencies in the Central Department of Rossvyazohrankulturi (120 days) and then to register a base station in a local territorial department of Rossvyaznadzor.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) is preparing amendments to the law “On Communications”, which will allow all operators to use their infrastructure jointly. In case the reform is a success, alternative operators will get an access to numerous objects, where the North-Western Telecom is monopolist now. The liberalization of communications market, beneficial to all, including end users, will be completed soon, experts say.
The amendments, being prepared by FAS, will provide all market participants, with the equal nondiscriminated access to the existing cable infrastructure. Actually it will lead to entering the market of the great amount of new players and the existing participants will be able to increase their market shares. The date of the amendments introduction is not known yet: formally it is planned for the end of 2007.Tthe participants are expecting for serious changes on the market.
At present the
Formally NWT does not prevent the wish of other operators to connect any object. However, actually because of NWT rules, the alternative operators face certain obstacles. For instance, the alternative operators have to comply with terms of technical conditions validity in order to connect to the monopolist’s cable network. At present the term is three months. While operators are preparing necessary documents (that takes a lot of time), the conditions of NWT change. The alternative operators have to repeat the procedure of coordination that affects the cost price of their services.
According to the participants of the market, NWT is holding the most tough position concerning entering the market of other operators. It mostly affects the market of communications services for households. NWT is not a single company, facing such problems, the market participants say. According to the companies’ representatives, they are mostly interested in the residential zone, not in commercial one.
The problem of access to the monopolist’s duct bank is a common problem for all regions of the country. NWT has invested much in its network and does not want to give everyone an access to it and it is quite reasonable. Alternative operators struggle for the market share and the situation is quite natural for business.
Concerning the reform introduction, regulating of tariffs for the access to the cable infrastructure will be of great importance, the market participants say. On the whole the market participants consider the liberalization of the access to communications networks infrastructure as a reasonable initiative.
At the same time the amendment may concern not only monopolists, but alternative operators, too. It means they will have to provide everyone with an access to their cable infrastructure.
According to the market participants, the reform is positive for private users. The liberalization of an access to the infrastructure due to the competition growth will lead to reduction in prices for main services, their improving and extension of the provided services range.
5. Economics of Innovations
The license receiving leads to the additional issue of the fund’s shares at 1.435 bn roubles, which will be held in June of 2008. The additional issue of shares will be placed by open subscription among investors. As a result the share of the state in the company will reduce from 100% top 51%. In September Rosinfokominvest is planning to make first investments.
Investments in one project will not exceed 100 mln roubles and the company’s share in a start-up’s share capital will be from 25% to 49%. At present there are 200 applications for investments.
As Rosinfokominvest remains the fund of mixed investments it is forbidden to invest in LLC. However, the company’s management is not confused by the fact that most IT start-ups are LLC. The fund will give legal advices to help LLC to transform into a public company. Usually it takes no more than a month.
Ex-minister of Communications Leonid Reiman was an initiator of the fund’s creation. He was also Chairman of the Rosinfockominvest’s Board of directors. Now Reiman is holding the position of Advisor to President of the RF. According to the information from mass media, Reiman will leave the post of Chairman of the fund’s Board of directors.
According to analysts, the applications are very few. At the same time, according to experts, the fund has a good chance to cope with its tasks due to the support of the state. The reduction of the state’s share in the company can contribute to its further activity as private investors will be directed to profit.
The 3G networks launch in
According to some analysts, it is useless to launch the 3G network in the Underground as it is inconvenient for use. Others say, the headstart will be a good basis to test this service in
Changes in the structure of the Ministry of Communications
A new structure of the Ministry of Communications has been approved by Minister of Communications Igor Shegolev: from that moment on ten departments instead of seven ones and six deputies instead of four ones will work in the Ministry. Names of the future heads of the departments and the number of employees will be finally defined in the nearest future.
Under Leonid Reiman there were seven departments in the Ministry: the Department for Strategy of Information Society Building, the Department of the State Programmes of Infrastructure Development and Limited Resource Use, the Department for the State Policy in the field of ICT, the Department for Economics and Finance, the Department for International Cooperation., the Department for Legal Support and the Department for Organizational and Social Activity.
The reformed Ministry consists of ten departments: the Administrative Department, the Department for Digital TV and New Technology Use in Mass Media, the Department for Information and Public Relations, the Department for the State Policy in the field of Informatization and IT, the Department for the State Policy in the field of Communications, the Department for the State Policy in the field of Mass Media, the Department for International Cooperation, the Department for Science-Technical and Strategic Development of the Sector, the Department for Economics and Finance and the Legal Department.
Yevgeni Vasilyev, director of the Department for the State Policy in the field of Infocommunications has left his post in the Ministry and now he is planning to continue his career in business. Since 2003 Vasilyev had been heading Neva Line company and had been working as director general in the Petersburg Transittelecom. He started working in the Ministry in 2006.
State Duma will work out a draft on digital TV
The working group will be created within a month and in September of 2008 the first public session will be held, where the market participants will take part. Afterwards the law will be worked out and introduced to State Duma. Besides the initiative of State Duma’s subcommittee there are other proposals on legal regulating of digital TV. In autumn of 2007 Rossvyazohrankulturi offered its variant of the transfer to digital TV, according to which the transfer programme was assessed at 235 bn roubles. Over 100 bn roubles of them were supposed to be spent on the purchase of digital set-up boxes.
RTRS offered the programme of the digital TV development in
The working group of the subcommittee will also consider the issue about the principle of TV signal distribution in
In 2007 the Ministry of Communications, headed by Leonid Reiman, worked out the programme of digital TV broadcasting development in
On the whole experts assess positively the initiative of the deputies. According to them, the project of the transfer to digital TV must be worked over thoroughly by lawyers. At the same time the law must meet requirements of the state channels as well as commercial ones.
6. Personnel Changes
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At the general meeting shareholders of Farlep-Invest company decided to appoint Yuri Chuikov for the position of director general of the company. Since March 27 of 2008 Chuikov had been acting as director general of the company, replacing Stan Abbeloos on this position. He began his career in the telecoms sector in 1992, starting working as commercial manager of Kievelectrosvyaz. He continued his work in the joint venture UMS. Later he was working in Telesystems of Ukraine, Golden Telecom GSM, Golden Telecom LLC Ukraine, the Ukrainian Newest Technology. From November of 2007 he was holding the position of director general of MMDC –
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Alexander Barinov has been appointed director general of the Ukrainian Radiosystems. Previously Barinov was holding the position of vice president on production, marketing and strategic development of Depo Computers, which is included in the group of companies IBS. Barinov will begin to work on June 23rd of 2008. He began his career as a marketing manager in the distributing company Lanit. From 1997 to 2002 he was working in Intel corporation, in its Russian representative office in Moscow at first and then in the European head office in Germany, where he was responsible for cooperation with the world producers of computers in Europe, the near East and Africa. In 2002 Barinov became marketing director of
Since 2005 Barinov was working as director general of the managing company OK Solutions of the media-advertising group Aegis/OK. In 2007 he returned to IBS, where he was working as vice president on production, marketing and strategic development of Depo Computers.
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AFK Sistema has declared about the appointment of Mikhail Shamolin for the post of the head of the cell operator MTS. Previously Shamolin headed MTS-Russia. He became known in the telecoms sector after in 2005 he had been appointed vice president on sales and subscriber servicing of MTS. Previously Shamolin had been working in the Ukrainian company Interpipe as a managing director of the ferroalloy business.
Yevgeni Pikersgil has been appointed director for work with corporate clients of the close corporation Gars Telecom. Pikersgil will supervise the work of the Commercial Department and be in charge of big corporate clients’ attracting. Before Gars Telecom Pikersgil was heading the Department for corporate sales and servicing of MegaFon-Moscow. Previously he had started the corporative business development in Orange Business Service as head of the Department for work with multinational clients and had also been managing sales in the International Company of Communications (MKS)
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Nikolai Rogdev has been appointed director general of Global Teleport. Such decision was taken by the Board of directors of Synterra on May 29th of 2008. After moving to
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The RF Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed an order about the appointment of Boris Boyarskov a head of the Federal Service on Supervision in the field of Communications (Rossvyaznadzor). Boris Boyarskov, having headed the regulator of the telecoms market last year, will continue controlling the communications sector. In the reformed Ministry he will head Rossvyaznadzor and will control telecommunications from the point of view of content, experts say.
Boyarskov came to the market of telecommunications last spring, when he headed Rossvyazohrankulturi. However, the regulator was divided on Rossvyaznadzor, submitted to the new Ministry of Communications and the Federal Service on Supervision over Keeping to Legislation in the field of Cultural Heritage Protection, submitted to the Ministry of Culture.
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A new top-manager has appeared in Summa Telecom. Henry Radzikovski, ex-president of Golden Telecom, will be engaged in the strategy of the company’s development: after losing WiMAX frequency resource, Summa Telecom decided to construct networks of fixed-line broadband Internet access. Henry Radzikovski has been appointed 1st deputy director general Aleksey Sheremetyev.
Eldar Razroyev, director general of Systems Mass Media is quitting the company. The main candidate for this position is Andrey Smirnov, which now is heading the joint company of AFK Sistema and the Russian World Studio – RWS. Besides personnel changes Systems Mass Media can be also reorganized: Stream-TV and the project on mobile TV development can be transmitted to MTS.
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Alexander Agakov will replace Felix Baranov and head the commercial department of OSMP. Agakov will be in charge of the management’s strategy realization and forming and realization of the company’s short-term and long-term plans. Agakov has been working in the company since December of 2007. Previously he headed the department for the business development in the CIS countries.
Andrey Novikov will head the department for the business development in the CIS countries. Novikov was invited to OSMP as an experienced specialist on business organization and development in overseas countries. He will be in charge of representative offices opening in
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Sergei Davidenko has been appointed senior vice president of the Svyaz-Bank. Davidenko will be engaged in the matters of the organization and improvement of information processing and IT of the Svyaz-Bank. Previously Davidenko was working as a deputy director general of Sberkarta.
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Vasily Semenov, having acted as commercial director of MCC (the Moscow Cellular Communications), has been appointed deputy director general – commercial director of the company. Previously this position was held by Sergey Khanenkov. On March 6th of 2008 Khanenkov was appointed director general of the company.
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On July 2nd of 2008 Andrey Manoilo was appointed the 1st deputy director general of the Post of Russia, Aleksey Kuzmin was appointed deputy director general of the enterprise. Since 1991 Manoilo had been working as a head of the Department, a deputy manager of the Tsaritsino Department of the Sberbank of Russia of Moscow. Since 1993 he had been working in the Central Department of the Sberbank of Russia, where he held successively positions of director of the Crediting Department, director of the Operational Department, director of the Analytical Department, director of the Exchequer and director of the Finance Department.
In 1994 Manoilo became a member of the Sberbank’s Board. From 2003 to February of 2008 he was working as deputy chairman of the Board - director of the Department for Internal Control, Inspections and Auditing. In February of 2008 Manoilo started working in the post of
Aleksey Kuzmin, appointed for the position of deputy director general of the Post of Russia, had been acting as deputy director general of the enterprise for two years. His appointment is linked to personnel changes in the Post of Russia.
According to the order of the Federal Agency of Communications, Andrey Kazmin was appointed director general of the Post of Russia last December. Several managers came to the Post of Russia from the Sberbank after him. In January Kazmin appointed Andrey Pogodin, who had been his deputy in the Sberbank, his deputy in the Post of Russia. The former head of the Sberbank’s secretariat Aleksey Kurov was appointed deputy director general - head of the management of the Post of Russia in March.
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VimpelCom declared that at the annual meeting of shareholders its shareholders had approved the agenda and elected a new Board of directors. The owners of around 84% of the company’s shares participated in the meeting. The new Board of directors consists of : Mikhail Fridman ( member of the Board of directors of Alfa Group, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Alfa Group consortium, Chairman of the Board of directors of TNK-BP, member of the Board of directors of VimpelCom from July of 2001), Shell Morten Jonsen (senior vice president of Telenor, Central and Eastern Europe, head of Telenor-Russia, member of VimpelcCom’s Board of directors from June of 2007), Hans-Peter Kohlhammer (founder of the consulting company Kohlhamer Consulting, chairman of the Board of Broadnet AG, a new member of the Board of directors), Joe Lunder (president of Ferd Industrial Holding, member of the company’s Board of directors since May of 2002, former director general and chairman of the Board of directors of VimpelCom), Oleg Malis (senior vice president of Altimo, member of VimpelCom’s Board of directors from June 2006), Leonid Novoselski (director general of Gradient, member of VimpelCom’s Board from June of 2006), Aleksey Reznikovich (director general of Altimo, member of VimpelCom’s Board of directors from May of 2002), Ole Bjorn Syustad ( senior vice president of Telenor ASA, Central and Eastern Europe, a new member of VimpelCom’s Board of directors), Jan Edvard Thygesen (executive vice president of Telenor ASA, head of the Department for operations of Central and Eastern Europe, a new member of the operator’s Board of directors).
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Martti IryA-Koskinen, head of the subdivision for work with investors, has been appointed chief vice president of TeliaSonera in
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Director general of Svyazinvest Alexander Kisilev was elected Chairman of the Board of directors of Rostelecom at the 1st session of the New Board of directors, carried out after the annual meeting of the company’s shareholders on June 9th. Sergey Kuznetsov, representative of Svyazinvest, was elected deputy chairman of Rostelecom’s Board of directors. At the annual meeting Rostelecom’s shareholders elected the company’s Board of directors, which consists of:
Mikhail Alekseev, independent director; Ekaterina Vasilyeva, director of the Department for Corporate Finance of the Investment Block KIT Finance the Investment Bank - independent director; Vladimir Zhelonkin, deputy director general of Svyazinvest; Alexander Kisilev, director general of Svyazinvest; Sergey Kuznetsov, representative of Svyazinvest; Yevgeni Logovinski, deputy chairman of the Board of the Insurance Society of Gas Industry – independent director; Elena Selvich, executive manager – director of the Department for Economics and Finance of Svyazinvest; Nikolai Melnikov, deputy director general on legal issues of KIT Finance the Investment Bank - independent director; Konstantin Solodukhin, director general of Rostelecom; Maksim Tsiganov, deputy director general of KIT Finance the Investment Bank – independent director; Yevgeni Chechelnitski, deputy director general of Svyazinvest.
The shareholders also confirmed the annual report of Rostelecom and the company’s profit distribution according to the results of 2007.
7.068 bn roubles were decided to be spend on the company’s capital increase; 2.356 bn roubles – on payment of dividends (25% of net profit)
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The Board of directors of MGTS offered 18 candidates for 12 seats to be elected at the annual meeting of shareholders on June 27th. The candidates are the following: Kirill Andreichenko , director on corporate management and legal issues of Comstar-UTS; Mikhail Bedin, director of the Department for exploitation of subscriber access networks of Comstar-UTS; Leonid Varakin, president of the International public organization “The International Public Academy of Communications”; Aleksey Goncharuk, vice president – operation director of Comstar-UTS; John Julain Malone, head of the Moscow subsidiary of Veus Holding; Aleksandr Kisilev, director general of Svyazinvest; Ludmila Kormilitsina, head of the section of the Department for corporate governance and legal support of Svyazinvest; Shamil Kurmashov, vice president head of the project of AFK Sistema’s telecom assets development complex; Viktor Lisenkov, head of the Department for legal support of Sistema’s telecoms assets development complex; Vladimit Malyavin, director general of Comstar-Direct; Irina Matveeva, vice president for economics and finance of Comstar-UTS; Jury Militsin, head of the governance of technology and purchases of the Department for technological development of Sistema’s telecoms assets development complex; Andrei Morozov, head of the Legal Department of the Moscow representative office of NCH Advisors Inc; Oleg Mukovozov, director on corporate governance of Comstar –UTS; Sergey Pridantsev, president of Comstar-UTS; Ivan Rodionov, Professor of the State University The Highest School of Economics; Viktor Savchenko, executive director – director of the Department for corporate governance and legal support of Svyazinvest; Elena Selvich, executive director – director of the Department for Economics and Finance of Svyazinvest.
The current Board of Directors of MGTS includes: K. Andreichenko, M. Bedin, A. Goncharuk, A. Kisilev, Sh. Kurmashov, V. Lisenkov, I. Matveeva, A. Morozov, O. Mukovozov, S. Prodantsev, V. Savchenko, E. Selvich.
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At the annual meeting the shareholders of MGTS confirmed a new Board of directors of the company. It includes Kirill Andreichenko, Mikhail Bedin, Aleksey Goncharuk, Aleksandr Kisilev, Shamil Kurmashov, Viktor Lisenkov, Irina Matveeva, Andrei Morozov, Oleg Mukovozov, Sergey Pridantsev, Viktor Savchenko, Elena Selvich. At the first session of the new Board Sergey Pridantsev was elected Chairman of the Board.
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Aleksandr Kibovski, military historian, expert, has been appointed for the position of head of Rosohrankulturi – the Federal Service on Supervision over Keeping to Legislation in the field of Cultural Heritage Protection.
The position appeared after Rossvyazohrankulturi had been divided on the Federal Service on Supervision in the field of Communications and the Federal Service on Supervision over Keeping to Legislation in the field of Cultural Heritage Protection. Boris Boyarskov, the former head of Rossvyazohrankulturi, has remained the head of the Federal Service on Supervision in the field of Communications.
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Aleksandr Polyakov has been appointed director of the group of companies Service Plus. Since 2000 Polykov had been holding leading positions in Optima, the
The appointment of Polyakov is caused by the new step in the company’s development and strategic priorities in its development. The priorities include the increase of vertical markets number, the intensification of work in traditional directions, the improvement of the group’s corporate governance and the integration of internal structure and business processes.
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Aleksey Ostapchuk has been appointed director general of FGUP Kosmicheskaya Svyaz. The order about his appointment was signed in the Federal Agency of Communications on June 10th. Ostapchuk has taken the position according to the results of the competition, organized by Rossvyaz.
Among all programmes of the enterprise development by 2015 Ostapchuk’s programme was considered as the most optimal. In the nearest future the emphasis will be placed on the efficiency growth of the orbital and frequency resource use; on the increase of the provided services range not only due to new satellites launch but also due to combining of different devices: on the demand stimulating from the direction of big consumers; on the continuous innovative development. According to the programme, the company can change its price policy, attract new sources of financing and take measures on the company’s debts restructuring.
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Director general of Altimo, the telecoms assets of Alfa Group, Aleksey Reznikovich has been elected Chairman of VimpelCom’s Board of directors.
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Grigory Baranov has been appointed director general of Ciena company in
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Aleksandr Maslov will be appointed Deputy Minister of Communications. Before the Ministry was reorganized, Maslov had been holding the position of Secretary – Deputy Minister of IT and Communications.
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Dmitry Milovantsev has sent in his resignation from the position of Deputy Minister of IT and Communications and refused to take any positions in the reorganized Ministry. Milovantsev was made a few proposals of work in various state and commercial structures,. He will take his final decision in the end of the summer – beginning of the autumn. The relationships between Minister of Communications Igor Shegolev and Milovansev are good. The resignation was Milovantsev’s decision, but they agreed he could collaborate with the Ministry as an advisor on a voluntary basis.
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Aleksandr Zharov, the former head of the Department for Press-Service, Information and Protocol of the
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Vsevolod Vukolov has been appointed director of the Russian concern of microelectronics Angstrem. From 2001 to 2008 Vukolov was heading the Department for the State Governance and Local Self – governance of the RF Government Personnel. Previously, from 1999 to 2001 he had been working as director general of the Mikhailovsk Mining and Processing Industrial Complex.
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The shareholders of the CDMA operator Sky Link have elected a new Board of directors. It consists of 7 people. Anton Abugov, the first vice president, head of the strategy and development complex of AFK Sistema, became a member of the new Board as well as Viktor Savelyev, the 1st vice president, head of the telecoms assets complex of Sistema Telecom; Vladimir Uvakin, head of the Department for Corporate Property and the Department of the Property Complex; and Dmitry Krilov, director of the Marketing Department of the Telecoms Assets’ Development Complex of Sistema Telecom.
Besides, Sky Link will be headed by president of the Russian Telecommunications Development Corporation (the Corporation RTDC) Stanley Kramton, director general of MS-Direct, Viktor Ustuzhanin and director general of Sky Link Gulnara Khasyanova. Vitali Savelyev has been elected Chairman of the Board.
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On June 19th of 2008 the Board of directors of the Central Telegraph dismissed ahead of schedule the member of the Board Yevgeni Khvostenko and appointed Oleg Kudryavtsev for this position. Khvostenko had been holding the position of director on production management and Kudryavtsev had been working as a financial director.
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AFK Sistema’s representatives have not got seats in the Board of directors of the interregional company (MRK) Sibirtelecom. The new Board of directors was elected at the annual meeting of the company’s shareholders on May 20th. Igor Repin, deputy executive director of the Association on Investors’ Rights Protection. Aleksandr Grobunov, the company’s vice president on strategy and development, having held the position of the Board’s member, was not elected.
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Mikhail Umarov, head of the Department for Public Relations of VimpelCom since 1998, has been appointed head of the project on new media channels development.
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Sergey Yanishev, quitting Centertelecom, was dismissed from the position of the member of Centertelecom’s Board of directors.
Thus, now the Board of directors consists of 10 people: Vagan Martirosyan, director general of Centertelecom; Rastyam Valishev, deputy director general – commercial director of Centertelecom; Aleksandr Gribov, administrative director of Centertelecom; Konstantin Zverev, IT director of Centertelecom; Andrei Kartashov, accountant general of Centertelecom; Vadim Kondratov, deputy director general – technical director of Centertelecom; Aleksandr Lutski, deputy director general – financial director of Centertelecom; Dmitry Parhomenko, director on legal issues and interaction with the state bodies of Centertelecom; Viktoria Polikarpova, advisor to director general of Centertelecom; Yevgeni Stepanov, deputy director general – personnel director of Centertelecom.
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Shareholders of Giprosvyaz has confirmed the company’s annual report and elected a new Board of directors. Over a year the company’s profit and revenue have increased 100% almost. According to the results of 2007, the company’s revenue came to 779 mln roubles, 97% growth compared to 2006. The company’s profit came to 77 mln roubles compared to 39 mln roubles a year ago (95% growth).
Representatives of Svyazinvest, the main shareholder of Giprosvyaz, have obtained three of seven seats in the new Board of directors. They are Georgy Romski, advisor to director general of Svyazinvest; Anton Shegolikhin, executive director of Svyazinvest; Natalia Feoktistova, head of the section of the Department for Corporate Governance and Legal Support. Besides, the new Board of directors also includes Anton Yevgenyev, the 1st deputy director general of Giprosvyaz; Andrei Kostikov, deputy head of the Federal Agency of Communications; Gennady Kovalenko, director of NP CIPRT; Vasily Shamshin, chief editor Elektrosvyaz magazine. Anton Shegolikhin has been elected Chairman of the company’s Board of directors.
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On June 24th of 2008 shareholders of Armada (PC) decided not to pay dividends for 2007 and to spend the company’s profit on the business development. The Board of director has been extended from 5 to 7 seats. According to the voting, five present members of the board: Dmitry Belik, Aleksey Kuzovkin, Azer Badalov, Jury Mostovoi and Sergey Lavrov have maintained their positions. Two more members have been elected to the Board. They are representatives of Armada’s subsidiaries: Maksim Selivanov, director general of Soyuzinform, and Aleksandr Kutuzov, director general of PM Expert.
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Shareholders of the National Telecommunications (PC) have elected a new Board of directors (9 people). The new Board consists of: Ludmila Loginovskaya, head of the Legal Department of Surgutneftegas; Vladimir Rumyantsev, head of the Media, Telecoms and High Technology Administration of the Department of Direct Investments of Gasprombank; Denis Bugrov, senior vice president of the Sberbank of Russia; Aleksandr Yastrib, head of the Department for Investment Business Development of the bank VTB; Andrei Zasipkin, deputy director general of the National Media Group; Mikhail Kontserev, executive director of the National Media Group; Andrei Praskurin, deputy director general on economics and finance of the National Media Group; Sergey Kalugin, director general of the National Telecommunications; Mikhail Morozov, director general of Konsultinfo. A. Zasipkin has been elected Chairman of the Board of directors.
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The Board of directors of MTS has scheduled a special meeting of shareholders, which will concern the election of a new Board of directors, to October 3rd of 2008. Candidates to the Board will become known to the shareholders from September 12th of 2008. At the annual meeting MTS shareholders decided to increase the number of its Board’s members to 9 people. At present the company’s Board consists of 7 people: Anton Abugov, the 1st vice president of AFK Sistema, head of the strategy and development complex; Aleksey Buyanov, senior vice president of AFK Sistema, head of the financial-investing complex; Giani Mohanbir Singh, independent director; Tatiana Yevtushenkova, advisor to president of MTS; Leonid Melamed, president of AFK Sistema; Paul Ostling, independent director; Vitaly Savalyev, the 1st vice president of AFK Sistema, head of the complex for telecoms assets development of Sistema Telecom.
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Executive director of the Non-government Pension Fund Telecom-Soyuz Arkadi Nedbai, having worked for 12 years there, was removed. This decision was approved by the fund’s shareholders at the special meeting. Since June 28th of 2008 the Fund has been headed by Anton Ostrovsky, the former executive director of the Non-government Pension Fund Mezhregionalni.
$ 100 000 000 will be invested in the Byelorussian operator MTS (49% belongs to MTS of Russia) by AFK Sistema in
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France Telecom intends to attract 14 500 000 000 USD for the purchase of the Scandinavian TeliaSonera. The French operator showed its interest in TeliaSonera in April. Now the company wants to borrow funds from banks for the possible acquisition. However, the French company emphasizes: the negotiations have not begun yet. The terms of the credit are not defined, too. The purchase of the Finnish-Swedish company would increase the presence of France Telecom in developing countries and would simplify the development of new services, for instance, mobile Internet access. Nevertheless, the minority shareholders of France Telecom seem worried about the idea to acquire of the Scandinavian company.
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In the 1st quarter of 2008 the total net profit of Svyazinvest’s subsidiaries reduced 6% compared to the same period of 2007 (8.4 bn roubles). The revenue grew 5.3% to 61.8 bn roubles.
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In the 1st quarter of 2007 the revenue of Golden
Telecom came to 376 mln USD (61% growth).
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In the 1st quarter of 2008 VimpelCom’s net profit under US GAAP was 601 mln USD (117% growth).
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The managing company Leader has increased its share holding in Volgatelecom to 7.19%. In March the company only owned 5.3%. Simultaneously, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank has reduced its stake in the operator from 13.28% to 9.05%.
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According to the non-audited consolidated results under MSFO, in 2007 net profit of Sibirtelecom was 2 659 000 000 roubles. In 2007 the consolidated profit of the company increased 16.9% to 35.246 bn roubles. OIBDA increased 60.4% to 11. 843 bn roubles, OIBDA margin came to 33.6% compared to 24.5% last year. EBITDA increased 59% to 11.960 bn roubles, EBITDA margin - 33.9% compared to 24.9% in the previous year. The operation expenses increased 9.75 to 29.531 bn roubles.
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100% of Svyazinvest’s net profit for 2007 (255 mln roubles) was recommended to be paid as dividends by the company’s Board of directors.
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There will be 2 bn Internet users in the world in the nearest 5 years. Thus, the amount of the network users will double. The forecast was made at the International Open Meeting on Issues of the Global Computer Network Development.
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MTS has placed bonds at 10 bn roubles. It is the largest corporate nonbanking loan this year.
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In June of 2008 Centertelecom counted 440 000 users of broadband access on xDSL technology. Since the beginning of 2008 the operator has connected 140 thousand new subscribers. The number of Domolink service users will increase 730 thousand people by the end of the year, that will allow to increase the company’s share on the Internet market of xDSL access in the Central Federal Circuit to 47% (37% in 2007).
