On 17 June 2003, a ceremony of presentation by PJSC Moscow City Telephone Network of the gift of its public payphone cards to the Russia National Library was conducted. Over 300 cards released from 1994 to 2003 were handed over. The collection will be in a public exhibition at the Library for a week's time to be introduced to all the RNL readers.

The staff of the Library and the visitors have been looking forward to seeing the collection: "It is for the first time in the Russian history that public payphone cards make part of a library stock. Our specialists were fascinated with a high artistic value of the PJSC MGTS public payphone cards. Furthermore, the payphone cards are an interesting historical testimonial of its age", Ms. Nina Khakhaleva, RNL Librarianship Director, noted.

According to Mr. Simon Rabovskiy, the PJSC MGTS First Deputy General Director, "While casting the image of a public payphone card, our specialists strive first and foremost to focus on panhuman values. Stringent requirements are set for the themes of the public payphone cards image - it should be both humanistic and conceptual, but not politicized, keeping within the idea of this Company's social responsibility in front of the people. Many of our card series are distinguished by humor and optimistic outlook on life. In elaborating the cards' subjects, PJSC MGTS specialists cooperate productively with the leading Russian museums, using thoughtfully and in highest esteem the historical and cultural heritage of the nation".

The first public payphone cards were produced within a joint venture with the Urmet Company of Italy and France Telecom, France, which were purely standard samples of payment medium with no focus on their artistic impression. Special emphasis, however, has been laid by PJSC MGTS from 1997 on the art of the telephone cards designing, and the Company has become a recognized leader in this telecommunications production field. This was reaffirmed by a keen interest shown by the visitors of the 7th International "Euro-Card Show" of the PJSC MGTS exposition, especially with reference to the samples representing the "Aesthetics of the Labor Equivalent", a public payphone card series based on the graphic of the Russian banknotes (the total batch of being 300 pieces).

Among the socially oriented series one can mark out such sets as "Human Mind Against Narcotics", "The Clean City", and "The Little Prince". The PJSC MGTS designers showed a high sense of responsibility in making the card set entitled "Help Children!" to lend support to disabled children.
The historical public payphone card series is particularly noted for the "History of the Russian Fleet", "History of the Muscovites' Way of Living", "Glory of Russia. Decoration Weapons. Orders, Medals, Insignias" collections. The Company's specialists follow very closely remarkable events in the life of Moscow and Russia as a whole, reflecting them in the telephone cards as follows: "Fifty-Five Years of the Great Victory", "Moscow is 850", "The 200th Birthday of A.S. Pushkin", and "St. Petersburg Is 300".

Nota Bene:

Presently, the Moscow City Telephone Network has the interlacement of card-operated public payphones, accounting for over 13 000 sets, which is the largest in this country, while PJSC MGTS as a business enterprise is the biggest telephone cards issuer in Russia. By the midyear 2003, the Company has manufactured 25 million telephone cards representing more than 300 themes.

The monthly output of PJSC MGTS telephone cards is 500 thousand pieces, representing historical, social, jubilee and national holiday subjects, carrying advertisement texts, various companies' symbols and notations. From 4 up to 5 million cards are in a continuous circulation among the Moscow inhabitants.

An average circulation of a PJSC MGTS large-number telephone cards series varies from some 20-30 thousand up to 200 thousand pieces.

The Company's presentation public payphone cards series are circulated in 300 thousand pieces. They do not go on sale, as they are used for presentation purposes, and are of particular interest of collectors.

The active lifetime of the public payphone cards is 3-4 months. The average number of card usages, for instance, in the case of a 50 charge-unit card, is 30 - 40 times; it is very often the case where the whole family uses one telephone card. Over 4 million calls are monthly made with the card-operated public payphones.

Public payphone cards are also utilized for advertisement purposes. PJSC MGTS provides advertisers with a possibility to embed their message in the Company's 20, 50 and 100 charge-unit telephone cards with a circulation of 1000 pieces.

At the present time, the PJSC MGTS public payphone cards are usable, apart form Moscow, in the cities of St. Petersburg, Sochi, Tver, and in some towns of the Moscow Region.

Copyright (ñ) 2003 ÎÀÎ ÌÃÒÑ.