Rostelecom (NYSE: ROS; RTS, MICEX: RTKM, RTKMP), Russia's national long-distance telecommunications operator, today announced that Standard & Poor's affirmed its corporate governance score (CGS) on the Company at «CGS-6» on the global scale. The Russia national scale CGS was also revised to «CGS-6».

The overall CGS on Rostelecom is the result of several component scores on global and Russia national scales of 1 (low) to 10 (high). According to the Company's last year results both the global scale score (shown first below) and the Russian national scale one (shown second) on ownership structure and external influence were a bit lowered to 5/5.3 from 5+/5.8. At the same time the scores on shareholder rights and stakeholder relations remained high (7+/7.5 — unchanged), while the scores on transparency, disclosure and audit were raised to 6+/6.9 from 6+/6.8. S&P also raised its scores on the Company's Board structure and effectiveness — to 5+/5.7 from 5/5.5.

Standard & Poor's recognized Rostelecom's transparency — among other things, timely disclosure of IFRS statements, active contribution of the independent directors to the board's processes and procedures as well as the management diligence in upholding shareholders' rights. The Company's improving corporate governance practices in line with the best international standards and requirements was also among those positive aspects appreciated by S&P.

Rostelecom Headquarters
Address: 14, 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya street, Moscow, 125047, Russia

Phone: +7 (095) 972–82–83
Fax: (095) 787–28–50