OREANDA-NEWS. Rostelecom OJSC (the “Group”) (MICEX - RTS: RTKM, RTKMP; OTCQX: ROSYY), Russia’s national telecommunications operator, announces that its Board of Directors has approved the appointment of Sergey Kalugin as President of Rostelecom, with immediate effect, to succeed Alexander Provotorov who is stepping down.

Mr. Kalugin was born in Moscow on November 2, 1966. Sergey Kalugin graduated from the Department of Economics of Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1991.

Sergey Kalugin served as CEO of OJSC National Telecommunications (“NTK”), a Rostelecom company and Moscow’s leading broadband operator, from 2007 to 2008 and from 2009 to 2012. Mr. Kalugin has also been Managing Partner at WebMediaGroup since 2009. From 2001 to 2007 Mr. Kalugin was CEO of OJSC National Cable Networks. From 2000, he was also CEO of OJSC RTR-Signal. Prior to that, Mr. Kalugin worked at JSC AB Inkombank, where he became Managing Investment Director having started out as an economist.

Sergey Kalugin commented: “It is with a sense of great honour and responsibility that I take up this post as President of one of the largest telecommunications companies in Russia. Through our dedication and efficiency, I am certain that Rostelecom faces a great future.”

Alexander Provotorov has worked for Rostelecom since August 2010. A great deal was achieved during his stewardship of Rostelecom, including the creation of a new united Company following the merger of regional telecoms companies including OJSC Dagsvyazinform. During Mr. Provotorov’s tenure, the Company also successfully carried out a project of unprecedented scale in organising the video surveillance of the ballot and subsequent vote counting of the Russian Presidential Elections in March 2012. The Company has also made real progress in the development of its E-government programme by creating the infrastructure it requires to successfully deliver the service. The Company has also made great strides forward towards developing cloud technology solutions, and the Group’s number of broadband subscribers has increased to 9 million, at a time when Rostelecom has also become a market leader in pay-TV services with 6.4 million subscribers.

Alexander Provotorov added: “I am extremely proud to have had the opportunity to work for a unique company, a trend-setter for the whole Russian telecommunications sector. Together, we have been able to achieve great things, which have been made possible by our team’s sense of professionalism, self-sacrifice and responsibility.”