Moscow, December 6, 2007 - At the end of November, RBC (MICEX, RTS: RBCI) and The Economist weekly signed an exclusive syndication agreement permitting RBC to publish a selection of the British magazine's content in Russian.

The syndication agreement grants RBC the exclusive right to translate and republish content from The Economist in the RBC magazine and in its online versions at www.rbc.ruand magazine.rbc.ru.

In addition, under the content licensing agreement, RBC has obtained an exclusive right to translate into Russian and publish the yearly periodical The World In produced by The Economist.

"The agreement with The Economist is a logical move towards further business expansion. For TV, we are in partnerships with the global news television leaders CNBC and CNN, and, as far as the RBC Daily newspaper is concerned, our general media sponsor is Germany's largest business newspaper Handelsblatt. The Economist is an undoubted leader among the world's analytical business titles, and we believe its best articles will blend in harmoniously with the content of the analytical business magazine RBC and boost its appeal for top business decision-makers," RBC Media General Director Artyom Inyutin said.

The Economist was founded in 1843. Its founder, James Wilson, was a disciple of free trade, internationalism and minimal state interference in market mechanisms. But even today, well after it celebrated a century in print, the magazine is still committed to the classic ideals of 19th century liberalism. Since 1928, The Financial Times Ltd, a subsidiary of Pearson Plc, has owned 50 per cent of the share capital of The Economist Group, with the rest divided between independent shareholders, including a number of the company's employees. A board of trustees is in place to guarantee its independent editorial policy, with a final say in appointing the editor-in-chief. Currently, The Economist's circulation exceeds 1 million copies, with four-fifths of it outside the UK.

The yearly title The World In has been published for the past 22 years. The unique magazine features the most reliable insights and forecasts of various events worldwide for the coming year. It receives contributions not only from The Economist's best authors and analysts, but also the world's most renowned business people and political figures. As such, The World In 2008 delivers articles by France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. With a circulation reaching 575,000 copies for The World In 2008, the title is distributed throughout 90 countries worldwide.

RBC magazineis RBC Group's first print project in the business information niche, tailored to the needs of business audience and covering a wide range of economic and business issues. The magazine is designed for the fast growing middle class along with company owners and top managers, in a word, for anyone who needs to keep updated on the most recent trends and events in the Russian and global business. The magazine's first issue was published in April 2006. The RBC magazine has a circulation of around 100,000 copies.