November 23, a meeting of V.A. Akulich, General Manager of OJSC North-West Telecom, and V.G. Yegorov, Governor of Kaliningrad Oblast, was held. As a result of the meeting the framework agreement of mutual cooperation between the Administration of Kaliningrad Oblast and the Joint-Stock Company North-West Telecom was signed.  

Under the Agreement, the following areas are the most important fields of cooperation between the Oblast Administration and JSC North-West Telecom:  

• assistance in the development of the facilities of the NWT branch Electrosvyaz of Kaliningrad Oblast in the territory of the region;
• assistance in implementing the Telecommunication Networks Development subprogramme of the regional target programme Social Development of Villages in Kaliningrad Oblast till 2010 approved by the Law of Kaliningrad Oblast On Approving the Regional Target Program Social Development of Villages in Kaliningrad Oblast till 2010.  
• assistance in implementing the Program of providing sparsely populated settlements with telephone communication through installing universal payphones in post-offices of the Northwestern Federal District approved by the Plenipotentiary of the RF President in the Northwestern Federal District and by the Minister of Information Technologies and Communication of the Russian Federation on the 24th May 2004;    

Answering journalists’ questions at a briefing that was held after the agreement had been signed, Vladimir Akulich said:  “North-West Telecom invests 250-350 million roubles in the Kaliningrad branch on the annual basis, which allows us to increase the capacity considerably. E.g., NWT put into operation extra 1300 lines in 2003 and 3500 in 2004. If the rate is maintained, we will be able to solve all the key telecommunication problems in the region within the nearest two years. And the company is setting the task of making it possible for the population of Kaliningrad Oblast to use the most up-to-date technologies and achievements in this field, not just providing settlements with telephone communication.”