Moscow – June 3, 2009 – Rostelecom (NYSE: ROS; RTS, MICEX: RTKM, RTKMP), Russia’s national telecommunications operator, today announced that Anton Kolpakov will sign a two year contract as General Director of Rostelecom and will take over the position from Konstantin Solodukhin.

Anton Yu. Kolpakov was born April 30, 1971 in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) and graduated from Saint-Petersburg State Academy of Aerospace Engineering.

Between 1998 and 2009, Mr. Kolpakov held senior executive positions at various telecommunications companies. In particular, he served as:

- Regional Sales Manager with CJSC PeterStar (1998 – 2001);

- Deputy Commercial Director for Special Projects, Deputy General Director and Commercial Director of CJSC Petersburg TransitTelecom (2001 – 2004);

- Deputy General Director, Business Development Director of OJSC Dalsvyaz (2005 – 2007); and

- General Director of OJSC Dalsvyaz (2007 – 2009).

Mr. Kolpakov led Dalsvyaz to become one of the most dynamic multi-regional telecommunications businesses within the Svyazinvest group. During his tenure at Dalsvyaz, the company consistently demonstrated solid financial performance and high levels of operational efficiency. Specifically, Mr. Kolpakov was able to capitalize on the explosive growth in broadband internet subscribers in Russia with the company’s Advanced Services being rolled out explosively to meet exceptionally high demand. Over the last few years, Dalsvyaz has become the market leader for these services in the Far Eastern region of Russia.

In his new position, Mr Kolpakov will focus on the immediate challenges facing Rostelecom; namely to improve business and financial performance, enhance services for large corporate customers and enable the integration of Svyazinvest group companies in the course of the restructuring.

Rostelecom’s Board would also like to thank Mr. Solodukhin for his commitment and leadership during his tenure at Rostelecom.