Udmurttelecom (merged with VolgaTelecom)

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Udmurttelecom is the local telecommunications provider for the Udmurtia Republic in the Urals region. The company provides local, national and international basic telephone services in an area of 42,000 square km, and a population of 1.6 million. It also operates a NMT 450 cellular network. In addition, the company has a joint venture with Rostelecom (40%) and Svyazbank (11%) for the operation of a GSM 900 network, the Udmurtdigital cellular network. The company's major sources of capital are tax savings from depreciation, telephone bonds as a part of the "People's Telephone" program, regional funds, and retained earnings. Another significant source of financing is suppliers credits from international equipment vendors. Udmurtsvtazinform was partially privatized in December 1993, after the restructuring of Rosselectrosvyaz. The company's main shareholders were Svyazinvest (38% of common shares and 51% of voting rights), Kutno Ltd.(8.49%), Feredo Enterprises Ltd. ( 5.6%), employees and management (10.82%). Udmurttelecom operated 12 switches and 453 local switching centers by 1997. The company faced no competition on the provision of local services by 1998. The company had 323,371 access lines with a capacity utilization of 87% in 1998. The company invested US$7 million in 1995, US$7 million in 1996, and US$10 million in 1997. Became a branch of JSC VolgaTelecom in November 2002.