OREANDA-NEWS. On 18 August 2009 was announced, that revenue for the first half of 2009 amounted to Rub 30.547.3 mln, which is nearly the same as in the year-earlier period;

Revenues from datacom and telematic services more than doubled year-on year to Rub 2,539.4 mln;

OIBDA[1]decreased by 36.1% year-on-year to Rub 5,778.3 mln, which implies am 18.9% OIBDA margin;

The company’s net profit dropped 56.2% in the first half of 2009, amounting to Rub 2,364.4 mln.

Moscow – August 5, 2009 – Rostelecom (NYSE: ROS; RTS, MICEX: RTKM, RTKMP), Russia’s national telecommunications operator today announced its unaudited first half 2009 results in accordance with Russian Accounting Standards (RAS).

Rostelecom’s H1 2009 revenues totaled RUB 30,547.3 mln which represents a marginal decrease of 0.1% year on year.

The first half of 2009 witnessed an increase in the share of value-added services in Rostelecom’s total revenues and compared to the first half of 2008, the share of datacom and intelligent network services approximately doubled and amounted to 10% of the total revenue.

Domestic long-distance (DLD) traffic during the reporting period decreased 5.0% year-on- year to 4,758.3 mln minutes** . First half 2009 DLD & interconnection revenues totaled RUB 13,255.3 mln, which implies 10.2% year-on-year decrease.

Outgoing international long-distance (ILD) traffic decreased by 7.9% year-on-year to 862.7 mln minutes. ILD revenues from Russian operators and subscribers amounted to RUB 5,630.4 mln, a 3.6% decrease compared to the first six months of 2008.

The decrease in DLD and ILD traffic and revenue is primarily attributable to the influence of the economic downturn, growing competition in the long-distance market and the continued migration of long-distance traffic from fixed-line to mobile networks.

For the first half 2009, incoming ILD traffic terminated in Russia decreased by 3.5% year-on-year, while transit traffic from international operators saw a dramatic 66.4% increase. In total, incoming ILD traffic amounted to 1,728.1 mln minutes, which implies a 12.0% year-on-year increase. Revenues from international operators for incoming ILD traffic transit and termination rose 21.6% year-on-year to Rub 3,362.8 mln.

Rostelecom’s first half 2009 revenue from other business segments grew by 15.0% year-on year to RUB 8,298.8 mln. The Company posted a 70% increase year-on-year in revenues from value-added services, including datacom and telematic services, and also from the intellectual network (IT) to RUB 3,062.0 mln. Revenues from data transmission and telematic services totaled RUB 2,539.4 mln, which represents a 2.2 fold increase when compared to the same period last year.

Rostelecom’s operating expenses for the accounting period amounted to RUB 26,975.9 mln, which implies an 11.0% year-on-year increase of 11.1%. The main factor contributing to this increase was higher payments made to international operators due to the decline in the ruble exchange rate and growth in international transit traffic.

Depreciation for the first six months of 2009 increased by 3.2% and amounted to Rub 2,206.9 mln.

Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) increased by 31.6% and amounted to Rub 5,778.3 mln. OIBDA margin amounted to 18.9% compared to 27.6% in the year-earlier period.

EBIT amounted to Rub 3,571.4 during the first six months of 2009, which is 43.4% less than in the same period a year ago.

Other gains and losses for the first six months of 2009 totaled a net loss of Rub 575.8 mln compared to a net gain of Rub 310.9 mln a year ago. This is loss is attributable to a number of factors, firstly, provision for allowances contrary to their recovery in H1 2008 as well as a loss from the sale of investments compared to a Rub 440 mln net gain on the sale of Golden Telecom’s shares in H1 2008.

As a result, Rostelecom’s first half 2009 net profit amounted to Rub 2,364.4 mln, down 52.6% year on

year.