MOSCOW, Russia (January 28, 2004).
At the end of December 2003, Golden Telecom, Inc.
(NASDAQ: GLDN), the largest independent telecommunications operator in Russia,
successfully carried out connection of its customer, the FTS ("Financial Telecommunication
Security") Service Bureau, to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunication’s (S.W.I.F.T.) Secure Internet Protocol Network (SIPN). The FTS Service
Bureau is one of the few companies in Russia that make it possible for banks to gain access to
S.W.I.F.T. without establishing direct contractual relations with a S.W.I.F.T. network partner.
In late October 2003, Golden Telecom announced that it had concluded an agreement with
AT&T for provision of access to S.W.I.F.T.'s Secure IP Network on the territory of Russia and
other of Commonwealth of Independent States countries using the Network Based Virtual
Private Network (VPN) services of AT&T. The agreement between AT&T and Golden Telecom
was approved by S.W.I.F.T. and allows Golden Telecom, with the full support of AT&T, to
provide for ordering, installation and maintenance of service and conclude contracts for
provision of access to S.W.I.F.T.'s SIPN.
Golden Telecom and AT&T provide access to S.W.I.F.T.'s SIPN through an Internet Protocol
VPN network based on the MultiProtocol Label Switching technology, in accordance with
specifications and timetables set by S.W.I.F.T.
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 networks in Moscow, Kiev, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk and Nizhny
Novgorod and via intercity fiber optic and satellite-based networks – including 150 combined access points in
Russia and other countries of the CIS. The Company offers mobile services in Kiev and Odessa.
Statements made in this press release are forward looking and are made pursuant to the safe
harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include the
continued future installation and maintenance of services for FTS. It is important to note that
such statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause outcomes to differ materially
from those set forth in these statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited
to, the possibility we will not be able to adequately service FTS`s access to S.W.I.F.T., or that
contractual relations with AT&T for the provision of such services are terminated. Additional
information concerning factors that could cause results to differ materially from those in the
forward looking statements is contained in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission including the Company’s periodic reports on Form 8-K and Form 10-Q
filed during 2003 and the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2002 .
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Public Relations:
Anna Chin Go Pin
e-mail: achin@gldn.net
tel.: +7-501-797-9300;
fax: +7-501-797-9332
Investor Relations:
Tom Adshead
e-mail: tadshead@gldn.net
tel.:+7-501-797-9300;
fax:+7-501-797-9331
www.goldentelecom.com
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