Moscow, February 17, 2004. Sistema JSFC and Moscow (Lomonosov) State University signed a General Partnership Agreement today as a step to implement the Government’s program of preparations for, and holding of, festivities to mark 250 years of the university. The partnership agreement was signed in an official ceremony in the Academic Board Room of the university’s high-rise administrative building on Vorobyovi (Sparrow) Hills. The University’s President, Victor Sadovnichy, speaking at the Agreement signing ceremony, said: “There is less than a year between the day Moscow State University will be marking its 250 years and now. We at the University are confident that we will be able to carry out all jubilee programs. The Federal Government and the city’s executive are certainly generously assisting the University in carrying these programs through. I am glad to tell you that many large businesses have volunteered to give us financial and any other assistance we could need to fulfill the celebration programs. Now, here, we are at the point of signing a General Partnership agreement with Sistema JSFC Corporation that is known far across Russia for its core business and humanitarian projects. Several programs we have put together jointly with Sistema JSFC will be completed in time for the anniversary celebrations and will contribute enormously to the University’s development and to its logistical and academic assets. I must tell you that our cooperation with Sistema JSFC will not start tomorrow, the morning after we have signed this Agreement. It has started already.” In his return address, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, Chairman of Sistema JSFC’s Board of Directors, said: “Education is one of the topmost national priorities. Sistema JSFC, a corporation that has risen and is thriving on high-tech, has no second thought about the significance of intellectual resources. Quality education gives the nation a future, and an opportunity to succeed and prosper. As we think about business growth and efficiency, we also are interested in having our companies staffed by people who, we know, have received the best education the world can afford, and we want Russian universities to be competitive and be celebrated as world-class scientific and educational centers. Moscow State University is exactly such a center, and it has always been on our minds. Some of the University’s students have received Sistema JSFC scholarships under a program that we have operated together with leading Russian educational institutions since 1998. A number of its graduates are working successfully at Sistema now. We are happy to expand our cooperation, and are always ready to help the University, rain or shine.” Under the agreement, a series of projects is to be initiated to improve and upgrade the infrastructure of the university as a major educational, scientific and cultural center in Russia and the world at large. In particular, the corporation will assist the university in carrying out its scientific, educational and cultural programs and provide it with technical, technological, advisory and financial support in planning and conducting restoration and repair jobs at the university’s facilities. For further details, contact: Olga Pestereva Sistema JSFC Press Office Tel: + 7 095 730 1705 pestereva@sistema.ru Yevgenia Zaitseva Moscow State University Press Office Tel: + 7 095 939-36-67 Fax: + 7 095 939-22-64 press@rector.msu.ru