The Standard & Poor’s Corporate Governance Rating Service raised the corporate governance score (CGS) of JSC North-West Telecom from 5.4 to 5.6, Russian scale. Simultaneously, the agency confirmed the Company’s rating of CGS-5+, international scale.

According to Standard & Poor's, “the increase in the CGS of JSC NWT reflects an improvement in shareholders influence and transparency, the active role played by the independent directors”.

In the opinion of Standard & Poor’s experts, the score was increased based on the following favorable factors of the NWT corporate governance practice:

• The involving of shareholders and the board in management oversight. The active role played by the independent directors;
• The active functioning of the board and four board-level committees, of which two are chaired by independent directors and have independent majorities;
• The overall transparency of the company and the effectiveness of the investor relations department;
• The improved quality of IFRS reporting, which has allowed NWT to receive an unqualified auditor’s opinion for the first time this year;
• The strength of shareholders meeting procedures and substantial scope of shareholder rights provided by Russian legislation and the company’s Charter.

Thus, in the opinion of the Standard & Poor’s experts, the level of the NWT corporate governance practice is one of the highest among all Russian fixed-communications operators: no Russian interregional communications company has been assigned a higher CGS to date.

Commenting the increasing of North-West Telecom’s CGS to level 5.6, Chief Executive officer of JSC North-West Telecom Vladimir Akulich noticed, "its one more right step on the way of increasing the corporate governance practice in the company and approximation its to the requirements of the international community”.

For a full report on the rating, visit the Standard & Poor’s web-site: www.governance.standardandpoors.com