MOSCOW — The President's decree concerning Svyazinvest's privatization can be issued already this summer, German Gref, minister of economic development and trade, has stated today at the exhibition Svyaz Expocomm 2005. He said he hoped that the holding would be sold in 2005 as well.

In 2004, Svyazinvest's net profit slipped 10.4 percent to RUR17.5bn (approx. USD629m) compared to 2003. Long distance and international calls aggregated over 15.9bn minutes, up by 9.99 from 2003. The company's proceeds moved up by 22.8 percent to RUR185.5bn (approx. USD6.66bn). In 2004, Svyazinvest increased capital investments by 28 percent to RUR59.2bn (approx. USD2.12bn), with most of the money used to finance new fixed assets. Costs went up by 26 percent to RUR140.7bn (approx. USD5.05bn).