On 20th May 2008 the Standard & Poor's international rating agency gave the national rating at the ruAA- level to the planned fifth issue of bonds by OJSC North-West Telecom ( State Registration No. of the issue: 4-05-00119-A of 23.10.2007).

The rating of the fifth issue is equivalent to OJSC N.W. Telecom 's rating according to the national scale and to the ratings of the two already existing issues of bonds .

The bonded loan worth of 3 billion roubles will be floated at the MICEX Stock Exchange through public subscription on 27th May 2008. The bonds circulation period is 5 years, early retirement of the bonds is possible, if the Company wishes so, on any of the dates of bonds coupon yield payment in the period from the 728th till the 1729 th day from the starting date of bonds floatation.

The floatation price of one bond is equal to the face value and makes 1,000 (one thousand) roubles per bond.   The interest rate for the first coupon will be determined as the sum of two summands:

▪ MosPrime Rate for 3 months , established on the last working day before the date of issue floatation start;

▪ premium to the MosPrime Rate for 3 months.

The rate for the 2nd – 20th coupons will be: MosPrime Rate plus Premium, however, no higher than the Limit Rate that will be set by the Company immediately before the date of floatation start. Like in the previous issues, stage-by-stage retirement of the bonds is planned according to the following timing:

▪ on the 1456th day from the starting date of floatation each bond will be retired partially to the amount of 25% of the face value ;

▪ on the 1638th day from the starting date of floatation each bond will be retired partially to the amount of 25% of the face value ;

▪ on the 1820th day from the starting date of floatation each bond will be retired partially to the amount of 50% of the face value.

No priority right of acquiring the securities is provided for.

According to analysts of the agency, the rating of the planned issue has been positively influenced by:

▪    the leading positions of the Company in the sector of traditional telephony (the share of the local and intraareal communication market is 76% and 90% respectively),

▪    the continuing improvement of the network quality,

▪    the improvement of the operating profitability (according to the results of 2007 the OIBDA margin amounted to 37.9% against 36.5% in 2006).

The rating also takes into account the balanced financial policy of the Company and the moderate level of debt which is an OJSC N.W. Telecom's advantageous distinction from other similar telecommunication companies .

More detailed information can be found at the site of Standard & Poor’s: https://www.standardandpoors.ru/ . 

Before, the Fitch Ratings agency gave the expected long-term rating according to the national scale   «A+(rus)» to OJSC N.W. Telecom 's fifth bonded loan.