In compliance with the decision of the Board of Directors of JSC North-West Telecom dated 23.12.2005, starting from 1st April 2006, JSC North-West Telecom is renaming its branches in order to bring their names to a single unified form.  These measures are logically continuing the reorganization that have been started in 2005 and is aimed at optimizing the company's organizational structures. Since 1st November 2005 NWT has been using a new, unified organizational structure of all branches of the company, having reduced the number of management levels and having brought the branches to comparable conditions. Instead of the territorial principle, NWT introduced the functional management principle. The decision on unification of the branches' names was necessitated by the need to simplify and provide a uniform character of the names of the company's structural units throughout the servicing territory.   

"This is an important landmark in the making of the united interregional company as a single whole and an evidence that the strategy of consistent business construction is being implemented. Recognizability of the single brand of North-West Telecom in the Federal District and uniformity in the names of the branches throughout the servicing territory will play an important part in promoting the services of the company in the telecommunications market", commented N.G. Bredkov, Deputy General Manager for Corporate Governance of JSC NWT, on the changes.    

The basic principles of renaming and their relation to recognizability of NWT's brand have been defined and the key criteria have been developed in the course of the preparation for the unification of the branches' names: the new names of the branches must be easy to pronounce and to memorize, must not contain any political, national or religious context and must not resemble any names of already existing companies or brands. It has been decided that it is most reasonable to use geographical signs or a reference to the administrative and territorial division in the name of a branch. 

After renaming, the names of the branches of North-West Telecom will look as follows:

• Arkhangelsk branch (formerly branch Artelecom of Arkhangelsk Region);
• Vologda branch (formerly branch Electrosvyaz of Vologda Region);
• Kaliningrad branch (formerly the branch Electrosvyaz of Kaliningrad Region);
• Karelian branch (formerly branch Electrosvyaz of the Republic of Karelia);
• Komi branch (formerly branch Svyaz of the Republic of Komi);
• Leningrad Oblast branch (formerly Lensvyaz branch);
• Murmansk branch (formerly Murmanelectrosvyaz branch);
• Novgorod branch (formerly Novgorodtelecom branch);
• Petersburg branch (formerly branch Petersburg Telephone Network);
• Pskov branch (formerly  branch Electrosvyaz of Pskov Region).