MOSCOW — Liberalization of the long-distance communications market has been postponed until January 1, 2006, from July 1, 2005, the press service of the information technology and telecommunications ministry has reported. The ministry had asked the government for the delay because some documents required for the deregulation had not yet been drafted by the economy ministry. According to the telecommunications ministry, the government has already ratified the postponement. The ministry itself asserts that it has presented all the documents required.

Long-distance communications services were included into the list of licensed services in February 2005. Before, Rostelecom had been the only nationwide long distance and international communications operator. In late May, the federal communications supervision service granted licenses to three more operators - Centerinfocom, Golden Telecom and Multiregional Transit Telecom (MTT). However, these three companies are entitled to render the services only after the rules of joining, which stipulate operators' behavior on the market, came into effect.