Mr. Lagutin, presently holding the office of General Director of Public Joint Stock Company Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS), will take up his new duties as of 23 July 2003.

"In my view, the major tasks CJSC "Sistema-Telecom" is currently facing as a managing company, are consolidation of the business activities of its subsidiary companies that make up the holding, invigoration of their competitive strength in the telecommunications market, optimization of the business processes, and the development of regional projects including those overseas", Mr. Lagutin said.

VLADIMIR S. LAGUTINwas born on 7 April 1947 in Moscow. He is a graduate from the All-Union Correspondence University of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications. He has been working for the Moscow City Telephone Network since 1967 where he held consecutively engineer and administrative positions, including those of MGTS telephone node chief engineer and manager, and that of Deputy General Director of MGTS for Economics. Since 1994 onwards, he has been holding the office of the General Director of Public Joint Stock Company Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS).

Under Mr. Vladimir Lagutin's leadership, PJSC MGTS succeeded in attaining sizable results in the new market operating environment, and in accomplishing transition to a fundamentally new type of maintaining business activities, blending together the tasks of economic and technological growth of the Company, and accomplishing its social mission.

Mr. Lagutin is a Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor, and Academician of the International Academy of Telecommunications and of the International Academy of Informatics. He is the chief of the "City Telephone Network Control Systems" Chair at the Moscow University of Telecommunications and Informatics. He is also the author of over 100 printed works comprising 4 monographs.

Vladimir S. Lagutin is decorated with the "Order of Honor" and other orders, as well as with the medals "For Distinguished Labor" and "Veteran of Labor". He is also the holder of the honorary title "Merited Telecommunicator of the Russian Federation".

The Closed Joint Stock Company "Sistema-Telecom" was established on 1 July 1998 as a subsidiary entity of AFK "Sistema" to exercise management of the telecommunications assets of the holding. Today, the "Sistema Telecom" holding is the biggest private entity in the telecommunications market of Russia. It comprises over 50 telecom operators working in all important segments of the telecommunications market such as fixed and mobile telephony, Internet and data transmission, traffic transiting, trunking and radio paging, etc.

Copyright (ñ) 2003 ÎÀÎ ÌÃÒÑ.