On September 17, 2001 a conference was held in Moscow for minority shareholders of Volga Region Electrosvyaz. The conference was devoted to the upcoming merger of OAO Svyazinvest operators into the mega-regional Volga group.

The event was sponsored by OAO Svyazinvest and Gamma Capital, the independent financial consultant of Volga-based companies. Progress reports on merging companies run by Svyazinvest, as well as merger mechanisms, were delivered by vice general director of OAO Svyazinvest Anton Osipchuk, executive directors of Gamma Group Mikhail Butrin and Andrey Poluektov, as well as representatives from Arthur Andersen. CEOs from two of the 11 companies run by the Volga Group, OAO Nizhegorodsvyazinform (core company) and OAO Martelecom also gave presentations on their companies.