VimpelCom announces the acquisition of cellular company with operations in parts of Far East super-region of Russia
30 Jun 2004

Dal Telecom is a GSM-1800 and D-AMPS operator with licenses to operate in three regions within the super-region (Khabarovsk Krai, Amur Region and Kamchatka Region) covering a population of 2.7 million. Dal Telecom holds a market share of approximately 45% in the areas where it operates. Dal Telecom's subscriber base as of June 30, 2004 was more than 322,000 (including 268,000 GSM subscribers) which, according to independent estimates, represented a market share of approximately 20% in the Far East super-region.

Commenting on today's announcement, Alexey Mischenko, Vice President of Business Development of VimpelCom, said, "We are very pleased to announce the acquisition of Dal Telecom which gives us access to operations in important parts of the Far East, the only super-region where we did not have a GSM license".

With the acquisition of Dal Telecom the VimpelCom Group's license portfolio covers approximately 136 million people or 94% of Russia's population.

VimpelCom Ltd.

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 (Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., MegaFon and VimpelCom Ltd. (provides services under the "Beeline" and "Kyivstar" brands)). Those assets are in Russia, the CIS and other promising emerging markets.

VimpelCom Ltd. consists of telecommunications operators providing voice and data services through  a range of wireless, fixed and broadband technologies. VimpelCom Ltd. is headquartered in Amsterdam and has operations in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam and Cambodia, covering territory with  a total population of about 360 million. VimpelCom Ltd. operating companies provide services under the "Beeline" and "Kyivstar" brands. VimpelCom Ltd.’s ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "VIP".

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