Moscow and New York (November 2, 2006) — Open Joint Stock Company "Vimpel-Communications" ("VimpelCom" or the "Company") (NYSE: VIP), is pleased to announce that once again it was named the winner of the Best IR by a Russian Company Award at the IR Magazine Continental Europe Conference and Awards 2006 held on October 25, 2006 in Zurich, Switzerland.

"We are honored to receive the prestigious “Best IR by a Russian Company Award” for the fourth consecutive year from IR Magazine," said Alexander Izosimov, Chief Executive Officer of VimpelCom. “Since our founding, we have built our business based upon principles of transparency and sound corporate governance. As we approach the tenth anniversary of our listing on the NYSE, we are extremely pleased that our efforts to work in the interests of all of our shareholders have once again been recognized by the international financial community."

The IR Magazine awards are recognized worldwide as among the most accurate and reliable measures of excellence and accomplishment in the fields of investor relations and corporate governance. IR Magazine commissions an independent research survey covering a broad cross-section of the Continental European investment community. The target group, consisting of more than 500 buy-side analysts, sell-side analysts and portfolio managers, has been interviewed to provide a comprehensive insight into current investor sentiment toward IR issues in the Continental European market.
VimpelCom is a leading international provider of mobile telecommunications services in Russia and Kazakhstan, with recently acquired operators in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Georgia. The VimpelCom Group’s license portfolio covers approximately 237 million people. Geographically it covers 78 regions in Russia (with 136.5 million people, representing 94% of Russia’s population) as well as the entire territories of Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Georgia. VimpelCom was the first Russian company to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). VimpelCom’s ADSs are listed on the NYSE under the symbol “VIP”.