On December 7, 2004 the current issues of stocks and bonds of North West Telecom (NWT) passed listing procedures and were included in the level-2 Listing Sheet A.  Until that time, NWT’s stocks and bonds had unlisted status on MICEX, but in October they were reclassified as liquid.  Trading of securities commences on MICEX after the Federal Securities Service approves a decision by the Board of Directors of the Exchange. 

The prerequisite for having securities listed is their conformity with certain requirements such as financial indicators and the shareholder structure of the issuer, liquidity level of securities, the volume of the issue, the quality of information disclosure, etc.  Unlike unlisted shares, transaction prices for securities listed on MICEX are recognized as quotable entities for the regulatory purposes of investment funds, valuation of net assets, taxation, when calculating credit limits for lending institutions per single borrower and other purposes.

After NWT’s stocks have been included in the listing of Russia’s leading stock exchange, the range of investors capable of performing transactions in NWT securities will be considerably expanded.  Commenting on this event, the company’s external relations and investor relations department E.I. Tomilina pointed out that “the increase in the number of trade venues where transactions can be executed in NWT securities is part of the strategy to raise the market cap and image of NWT within the business community and achieve more lucrative conditions for attracting capital on financial markets”.

At present, NWT shares are traded on RTS, MICEX and SPICEX.  NWT’s level-1 ADRs have been floated on the OTC market in the US.  A total of about 4.68% of the company’s common shares have been converted into ADRs.