On 1 September 2009, Vladimir Akulich, CEO of OJSC North-West Telecom and Alexei Loginov, Chairman of Northwest Bank of Sberbank of Russia (OJSC) signed an Agreement of Cooperation between OJSC North-West Telecom and Northwest Bank of Sberbank of Russia (OJSC) (hereinafter the “Parties” - OJSC NWT and Northwest Bank).

The Agreement signed by the Parties defines the fundamental guidelines of mutually beneficial cooperation aimed at: 

- implementation of joint special offers to the clients;

- preparation of joint preferential programmes for the employees;

- use of the Parties’ services promotion channels on mutually advantageous terms;

- identification of the individual and corporate needs for the services and tools of the Parties.

The joint initiatives provided for in the Agreement are to be implemented in St. Petersburg, the Leningrad, Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Novgorod and Pskov regions, and the Republic of Karelia.

The Agreement signing ceremony held in St. Petersburg was broadcasted using video conferencing connection to the studios of the regional branches of NWT in Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Novgorod, Pskov and Petrozavodsk.

The signing of the Agreement at the central studio in St. Petersburg was attended by:

- for OJSC NWT:

Vladimir Akulich, Chief Executive Officer;

Venera Khusnutdinova, Deputy CEO, Economy and Finance;

Oleg Popov, Deputy CEO, Commercial Director;

Viktor Plyachenko, Regional Director, Director of the St. Petersburg Branch.

- for Northwest Bank:

Alexei Loginov, Chairman of Northwest Bank;

Oleg Filatov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Northwest Bank.

At the studios of NWT branches, the event was attended by regional directors in charge of NWT branches, branch managers, and also general managers of head offices of Northwest Bank of Sberbank of Russia in the above regions.

In his welcome address, NWT’s CEO Vladimir Akulich said that “the partnership relations between the most respected bank in Russia and North-West Telecom are deeply rooted in history and keep strengthening and developing with each year even in an uneasy economic situation.” An example is provided by the opening of a credit facility for OJSC NWT at Sberbank at the end of 2008, and also the increasingly expanding range of banking services for receiving payments from subscribers, streamlining the settlements with partners, salary projects and many others. “Our Company, from its end, has implemented a unique project for Sberbank to establish the largest data transfer network in the Northwest Federal District, said Vladimir Akulich. – Specially for the Bank, we set up redundant channels to guarantee uninterrupted provision of our services.” 

Chairman of Northwest Bank Alexei Loginov said: “We regard NWT not only as a client and reliable partner but also as a friend we have full trust in. The economy as a whole and small businesses in particular are currently declining so we thought it would be necessary and feasible, jointly with one of our major partners, to give small entrepreneurship the support that is so essential for the growth of the Russian economy under the crisis.”

Both top executives shared the opinion that based on the Agreement just signed many different programmes will be developed and realised for the ultimate benefit of the public and enterprises in the region.

During the event the officials of two largest corporations in Northwest Russia announced about launching the first joint action under the Agreement aiming at offering increased opportunities of financial support for small and medium-sized businesses and creating favourable conditions for their operations. In the framework of the special action, from September 7 through November 30, 2009, small and medium-sized companies will have a chance to use the benefits of the lending and cash management services of Sberbank of Russia, and obtain a certificate from OJSC North-West Telecom to get connected to telephone communication and Internet access services with AlliancePRO packages on special preferential conditions. More details about the action are available at https://www.aliance-pro.ru/.

At the end of the ceremony the top managers of OJSC NWT and Northwest Bank took part in a briefing to answer the questions asked by journalists from five regions of the Northwest Federal District and St. Petersburg.