On October 6 MICEX reclassified NWT’s common shares from illiquid to liquid.  The change was made due to the company’s ability to meet MICEX requirements for liquid shares based on the results of Q3 2004 trading.

North West Telecom concluded an agreement with market maker Energokapital in early October to boost its share liquidity.

Commenting on the choice of the market maker, deputy CEO of NWT Nikolai Bredkov said: “We were in talks with a number of professional stock market players and based on the various proposals Energokapital was picked, since this company provides the most attractive partnership conditions.  Raising the number of trading venues where our shares can be traded is part of NWT’s strategy to boost share liquidity and market cap.  In the future, we will be attempting to launch NWT’s shares on western stock exchanges, which will push up interest on the part of foreign investors”, Bredkov said.

According to deputy CEO of Energokapital Artem Konin, “We will be interested in promoting the securities of one of the largest issuers in the North Westregion.  Regional telecoms are on the rise right now and are in high demand. We expect to see NWT reaping strong synergetic effects from the recent merger.  The company has been performing quite well lately and its shares definitely belong in the portfolios of any savvy investor”.

The investment community is upbeat on NWT’s bid to raise its liquidity. “In our opinion, a MICEX listing will have positive repercussions on NWT’s share dynamics as it will boost liquidity and expand the range of investors.  Another striking example is that of Siberia Telecom, whose MICEX listing significantly raised that telecom operator’s liquidity and has been one of the main reasons behind the rise in its market cap”, according to RenCap telecom analyst Olga Zhilinskaya.

At present, NWT shares, in the form of level-1 ADRs are traded on the US OTC market.  A total of 4.9% of the company’s common shares have been converted to ADRs.  In Russia, NWT shares are traded on the RTS, Saint Petersburg Inter-Bank Exchange and SPICEX.