VimpelCom wins prestigious 2004 awards in Management, Corporate Governance and Investor Relations
21 Jan 2005

Moscow and New York (January 21, 2005) — Open Joint Stock Company “Vimpel-Communications” (“VimpelCom” or the “Company”) (NYSE: VIP) is pleased to announce that it was named the winner of a number of prestigious awards from Russian and international organizations for its performance in 2004:

Alexander Izosimov, Best Professional Manager (Association of Managers of Russia)
Alexander Izosimov, Best Corporate Manager (Association for the Protection of Investor Rights)
VimpelCom, Best Corporate Governance (Association for the Protection of Investor Rights)
Alexander Izosimov, Best Investor Relations by a CEO/CFO (IR Magazine)
Valery Goldin, Best Investor Relations Officer – Large Cap (IR Magazine)
VimpelCom, Grand Prix for Best Overall Investor Relations – Large Cap (IR Magazine)
VimpelCom, Best Investment Community Meetings (IR Magazine)
VimpelCom, Best Annual Report & Other Corporate Literature (IR Magazine)

“It is a great honor for us to win these prestigious awards from leading organizations in the areas of management, corporate governance and investor relations,” said Alexander Izosimov, Chief Executive Officer of VimpelCom. “Strong management and world-class corporate governance combined with the open and transparent manner in which we operate have always been among our highest priorities. We are happy to see that our efforts are being recognized and awarded by the Russian and international business communities.”

The Association of Managers of Russia is a national non-profit organization whose objective is the overall development of the Russian business community and business environment. This Association includes more than 800 members, among them Chairmen and CEOs of leading Russian companies.

The Association for the Protection of Investor Rights is a Moscow-based non-profit organization aimed at unifying investor efforts to protect their rights and improve corporate governance in Russia. This Association includes both Russian and non-Russian investors working in the Russian market.

IR Magazine is a leading international publication on investor relations and associated matters. The IR Magazine awards are recognized worldwide as among the most accurate and reliable measures of excellence and accomplishment in the fields of investor relations and corporate governance.

VimpelCom

Altimo, a leading private equity group, operating on some of the world's most desirable and potentially lucrative mobile telecommunications markets, was created in 2005 from Alfa Telecom, which itself was established in 2004 to hold the telecoms investments of the Alfa Group Consortium (Golden Telecom, Inc., Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., Kyivstar GSM, MegaFon, VimpelCom, Sky Mobile). Those assets are in Russia, the CIS and other promising emerging markets.

VimpelCom consists of telecommunications operators providing voice and data services through a range of wireless, fixed and broadband technologies. The Group includes companies operating in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia and Armenia, in territories with a total population of about 340 million. The Group companies provide services under the "Beeline" brand.  VimpelCom was the first Russian company to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange (under the symbol "VIP").  In Q1 2008, VimpelCom acquired 100% of the oustanding share capital of Golden Telecom, a leading facilities-based provider of integrated telecommunications and Internet services in Russia and the CIS.

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