On 27th November 2009 the Standard&Poor’s international rating agency issued a report in which it confirmed OJSC North-West Telecom’s long-term international credit rating at the level of “BB-”, “Stable” forecast. The national rating of N.W.Telecom was confirmed at the previous level of “ru AA-”.

Analysts of the agency have noted that the following factors have had a positive influence on the rating:

- the strong market position of N.W.Telecom in the segments of local communication and broadband Internet access;

- improved efficiency of the company’s business;

- good performance;

- moderate debt burden;

- sufficient liquidity.

In the opinion of the experts, positive moments in the activities of OJSC North-West Telecom have been the further improvement of the company’s income structure, growth of N.W.Telecom’s business efficiency due to the increase in the number of broadband Internet access subscribers and strict control of costs. As a result, N.W.Telecom has been able to maintain EBITDA profitability higher than 40% for a long time, which makes the company one of the most profitable regional wire communication operators in Russia.

According to analysts, the fact that the company has been pursuing a well-balanced financial policy for a long time has made it possible for the company to pass through the period of instability in the financial markets without an increase of credit risks. According to the results of the 1st six months of 2009, the debt to EBIDTA ratio of N.W.Telecom was 1.8. Later on, due to the moderate investment programme and the possibility of repaying a part of the debt liabilities using own cash flow, the debt will be decreasing.