OREANDA-NEWS. January 15, 2010. A regular meeting of the board of directors of Svyazinvest (hereinafter – the Company) was held.

The Company’s board of directors approved the Unified Technical Policy of Svyazinvest, which determines the main areas of technological development, principles, mechanisms and instruments to be used when adopting technical decisions which aim to form, advance and support telecommunications infrastructure.   The main areas of technical development will be the formation of infrastructure used to provide mobile telephony services throughout the territory of Russia and the development of infrastructure used to roll out broadband Internet access. 

According to the plan, as part of the implementation of the Unified Technical Policy uniform technical and centralized design standards are to be phased in, while a unified expert analysis of systems network decisions is to be carried out to ensure compliance with corporate technical standards.  The Company’s Technical Council will be in charge of phasing in the Unified Technical Policy.

The board of directors also approved a program (policy) for expanding the use of domestic telecommunications equipment, domestic technologies, materials and devices used in building telecom networks and facilities for the Svyazinvest Group of companies.  This program is designed to complement the Unified Technical Policy.  The implementation of this program is expected to encourage the realization of advanced domestic solutions within the Svyazinvest Group of companies and encourage the expansion of Russian manufacturers, including scientific and design institutes. 

The draft Statute on Payment of Remuneration to Members of the Board of Directors of the Company.  Earlier, no payment was envisaged for members of the Company’s Board of Directors.  The board gave its approval to the draft Statute and instructed the Board of Management of the Company to submit it for the approval of the State Property Management Agency (Rosimuschestvo) and the Ministry of Telecommunications of the Russian Federation. 

In addition, the board of directors reviewed the issue of long-term ways and means for providing incentives to key employees of the Svyazinvest Group of companies.  The board’s attention was drawn to incentive programs which are widely used in leading Russian and foreign companies.  These programs, as a rule, are to be rolled out on the basis of gains in the value of shareholder capital.  The board of directors adopted a decision to develop an incentive program for which a consultant is to be retained. 

The board of directors of the Company adopted a decision to elect Mikhail Leschenko, who was named deputy director general in October, as a member of the board of managers.  Given that a member of the board of management cannot head up the Executive Remuneration Committee of the Company’s board of directors, the powers of Mikhail Leschenko were terminated in this position.  The managing director of MDM Bank Nikita Ryauzov was appointed as the new chairman of the Executive Remuneration Committee. 

The board of directors also conducted an analysis of the main areas of business performed by VolgaTelecom.  Addressing the meeting, the company’s general director Vladimir Rybakin pointed out that in 2009 the main focus of VolgaTelecom was ensuring the growth of free cash flow, maintaining its market share, raising operating efficiency and the efficiency of marketing initiatives.  At present, the company’s major revenue growth drivers have nearly been exhausted, which has prompted the company to seek out new paths of development.  Alongside this, strong mobile assets allow VolgaTelecom to derive a synergetic effect from the development of fixed and mobile telephony, thereby enabling the company to maintain its market share.  Despite the global financial downturn, the company will experience growth in its key performance indicators in full-year 2009.  The Company’s board of directors took under advisement information on the headline financial and operating indicators of VolgaTelecom.

The board of directors also examined other issues which concern the Company’s in-house activities. 

The Company’s board of directors meeting was attended by the following persons:

Mikhail R. Butrin, managing director of VTB-Invest;

Mikhail A. Leschenko, deputy general director of Svyazinvest;

Konstantin V. Malofeyev, managing partner of direct investment funds Marshall Capital Partners;

Marlen J. Manasov, member of the board of directors of UBS Bank;

Sergey V. Pridantsev, president of Comstar-UTS;

Leonid D. Reiman, advisor to the President of the Russian Federation;

Ivan I. Rodionov, professor of state university the Higher School of Economics;

Nikita D. Ryauzov, managing director of MDM-Bank.