The facts about ROS from the Moscow Times:
The Moscow City Telephone Network, or MGTS, for example,
owes $150 million, of which $9 million in interest comes due later
this month. Rostelekom, the country's long-distance carrier, has
loans of $450 million in U.S. dollars, Japanese yen and Deutsche
marks. Rostelekom does, however, earn hard-currency revenues for
much of its long-distance service -- perhaps one reason its stock
has had some movement in a largely paralyzed stock market.
But a 1997 net profit of just $70 million from these international
provider fees does not allow much buffer against drastic economic
changes, analysts said. Since the ruble began devaluing Aug. 17,
Rostelekom stock has fallen 87.73 percent, closing at $0.54 on
Friday.
The extent of the damage, analysts said, will depend on how much
debt a company owes. It also hinges on how fast a telecom can
influence price changes.
Rostelekom on Sept. 1 managed to raise prices for calls to the
U.S. and Baltic countries by 50 percent, but the change is marginal
considering the ruble's depreciation. It now costs just 6.6 rubles
(53 cents) a minute to call the United States on a weekend, and
13.2 rubles per minute during weekday business hours. |
