On December 5, 2008, N.W.Telecom’s first regional customer-dealing office of the Flagman category was ceremonially opened in Kaliningrad.

This event may be considered as the starting point of a large-scale restructuring of North-West Telecom’s own sales chain aimed to set up a unified network of units for dealing with customers. They range from large universal Flagman offices with a full set of services to smaller regional sales offices and to mobile van offices able to reach remote communities where the Company has no office or agent, or to new home owners, for example when people move into a new block of flats.

Flagman operates in the “one window” mode. Applying to any of its specialists, the customer will get the entire required set of services, from consulting and service demonstration to contract signing and contract payment. Realizing the need for a differentiated approach to service, Flagman has separate rooms for individual and corporate customers offering:

- areas for demonstration of telecommunication services, which is especially relevant for promotion of advanced broadband access services such as Avangard, Avangard TV, video conference communication etc.;

- comfortable meeting rooms with a businesslike atmosphere for communicating with corporate client representatives and for presentation of services;

- Internet Zone where high-speed access to the internet will be provided for visitors at any time of the day.

Such new-model offices of N.W.Telecom will be gradually opened in all oblast and republic centers of the North-Western Federal District. The next Flagman will be launched in the capital of the Republic of Komi as early as in the 1st quarter of 2009.

The Flagman opening ceremony of December 5 in Kaliningrad was attended by oblast and city government members and by N.W.Telecom management.

Greeting the guests of the event, N.W.Telecom Commercial Manager Oleg Popov emphasized the importance of the event not only for the level of the city of Kaliningrad, but also for the entire North-Western Region. He noted, “The first Flagman is a sign of the new era, the era of new technologies and superadvanced services, intellect, and innovations. Still, Man is the main point as always. On the other hand, it is Customer willing and absolutely deserving to have the full range services in a decent atmosphere, and on the other hand it is Professional, a friendly and communicative one, and skilled both in engineering and legal terms. I hope that our Flagman will fully meet both the expectations of customers and the requirements of the day.”

Andrey Kulazhenkov, Regional Manager of the N.W.Telecom Kaliningrad Branch, noted that “quality services to customers is our main goal. And I am happy that the first unified sales and services center of the Flagman category appeared in Kaliningrad Oblast of all places. We hope that the advanced and stylish Flagman will become one of Kaliningrad’s new “visiting cards” and a kind of symbol of telecommunication development in the Oblast.”

After the participants of the ceremony and invited journalists viewed the Center’s operating and demonstration spaces, they had a surprise. Father Frost wished them all a happy New Year via a video communication line from Veliky Ustyug. Finally, a press conference for the media was held, where the Company’s representatives answered the reporters’ questions related to the activity of Kaliningrad Branch in 2008.