VimpelCom Enters Into a Loan Agreement to Raise Up to EUR 600 MILLION
23 Oct 2008

Moscow and New York (October 23, 2008) - Open Joint Stock Company “Vimpel-Communications” (“VimpelCom” or the “Company”) (NYSE: VIP) today announced that it has signed a new unsecured loan agreement with The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., Barclays Capital (the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC), BNP Paribas, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Standard Bank Plc, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited and WestLB AG, London Branch as Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners.

The facility has a 3 year tenor and an amortizing structure, with repayments due in five equal semi-annual installments starting from the date falling 12 months after the signing date. The rate of interest for the facility is the percentage rate per annum which is the aggregate of EURIBOR plus a margin of 2.30%.

VimpelCom intends to use the proceeds from the loan to continue the development and expansion of its networks, including through possible acquisitions or investments in existing operators, and to repay indebtedness.

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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