On December 21, 2004 the Board of Directors of OAO Rostelecom decided to set up an Auditing Committee that will include three independent directors and an observer without voting rights.

IFC METROPOL Mikhail Slipenchuk was appointed to the Committee. Mr. Slipenchuk has been also a member of the OAO Rostelecom Board of Directors since 2002.

The Committee is chaired by Grigory Finger, Executive Director of the Moscow office of NCH Advisors, Inc. Valery Degtyarev, General Director of ZAO Professional Telecommunications, is named as the Committee’s independent director. Evgeny Yurchenko, OAO Svyazinvest’s Deputy General Director, is elected independent observer.