MOSCOW, Russia (April 21, 2004). Golden Telecom, Inc. (“Golden Telecom” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GLDN), the leading provider of integrated telecommunications and Internet services in Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), announced that as of May 1, 2005, Mr. A.S. Ponomarev has been appointed as the new Director of the Yekaterinburg branch operations unit of LLC EDN Sovintel. Before this appointment Mr. Ponomarev was Commercial Director of the branch.  In his new role, Mr.Ponomarev will also undertake the responsibilities of the Director of UralRelcom LLC. 

Mr. ?.?. Lebedev, the former Director of the Yekaterinburg branch, decided to leave his position to explore new projects.  “I’d like to thank the company and all the staff of the company with whom we have gone a long and exciting way”, said Mr. Lebedev.

Michal Čupa, Senior Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Golden Telecom commented, “We are grateful to Mr. Lebedev for his work and stewardship with both the Yekaterinburg branch and UralRelcom.  It was on his watch that we successfully carried out the integration of our holdings in the city of Yekaterinburg, and created a powerful and versatile operator in the Urals region.  I would also like to wish Mr. Ponomarev every success and express our confidence that the Yekaterinburg branch will continue to develop dynamically in all its lines of operation.” 

About Golden Telecom (www.goldentelecom.com):

Golden Telecom, Inc., (NASDAQ: “GLDN”) is a leading facilities-based provider of integrated telecommunications and Internet services in major population centers throughout Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (“CIS”).  The Company offers voice, data and Internet services to corporations, operators and consumers using its metropolitan overlay network in major cities including Moscow, Kiev, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Almaty, and Tashkent, and via intercity fiber optic and satellite-based networks, including approximately 220 combined access points in Russia and other countries of the CIS. The Company offers mobile services in Kiev and Odessa.

For additional information please contact:

Public relations:

Anna Chin Go Pin

e-mail: achin@gldn.net

tel.: +7-501-797-9300

fax: +7-501-797-9332

Investor Relations:

Ranjit Singh

e-mail: ir@gldn.net

tel.: +7-501-797-9300

fax: +7-501-797-9331

www.goldentelecom.com