OREANDA-NEWS. On August 17, 2009 Southern Telecommunications Company (“UTK”) (RTS: KUBN, KUBNP; MICEX: UTEL, UTELP; ADR OTC: STJSY, KUE FRA), the principal fixed-line telecommunications provider for Russia’s Southern Federal District, reported that Standard & Poor's Governance Services affirmed its corporate governance score (CGS) on Southern Telecommunications Company at CGS-5 At the same time, Standard & Poor’s raised its Russia national scale CGS on the Company to CGS-5.3 from CGS-5.2, reported the press-centre of UTK.

According to Standard & Poor’s, the increase on the Russia national scale reflects several improvements in financial transparency: the Company obtained a clean auditor’s opinion on IFRS statements for the first time in 2009 and improved the timing of disclosure of IFRS accounts. Importantly, these accounts were published before the annual General Shareholders' Meeting.

According to Standard & Poor’s analysts, UTK’s proactive investor relations policies are in place and the Company employs a major international audit firm, chosen via an open tender.

Other UTK’s corporate governance strengths include:

- The Board of Directors has substantial authority. It is supported by four BoD committees, all of which include external directors.

- The Company has strong shareholder meeting procedures. Russian law provides a broad measure of voting rights to minority investors.

The overall CGS on UTK is the aggregate of four component scores on both the global and Russia national scales:

Ownership structure and external influences     4+/4.8

Shareholder rights and stakeholder relations      7/7.1

Transparency, disclosure, and audit                   6/6.2

Board structure and effectiveness                     4+/4.7