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Technology Stocks : Vimpel Comm (VIP) ADR's of the Russian Cellular Phone Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: M. Frank Greiffenstein who wrote (99)	10/4/1998 12:21:00 PM
From: Savant	Respond to of 283

One difference might be in the type of customer that would use a cell phone, oops, with Russia, perhaps I should say cellular phone. I see the military, the politicians, and the "free lance entrepreneurs"..all of which usually have money and a need for immediate communication. Add to this, it is easy to shut them off if they don't pay. What are they bartering to pay the land line bill? Best, Savant

To: M. Frank Greiffenstein who wrote (99)	10/4/1998 12:42:00 PM
From: Savant	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 283

The last I read, VIP had only 135K customers..ie probably the elite. Apparently Natasha paid her bill, you could still get through. I really am curious what they are bartering to pay bills. The tax collections are not happening, I read they are proposing a tax amnesty program to collect back taxes. If people are bartering, then the taxes will be even harder to track. Best, Savant

To: M. Frank Greiffenstein who wrote (99)	10/9/1998 4:48:00 PM
From: Alexander Pavlov	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 283

<< Savant, my wife is from Russia, and her best freind (Natasha) is the daughter of an executive with Rostelekom. As it happens, this guys is VP for Collections, LOL! Anyway, I spoke with Natasha 2 weeks ago. It seems nobody is paying their ROS phone bills. They are setting up barter. By inference, I find it hard to imagine that VIP is getting paid in hard currency. >> Frank, I could not imagine nobody paying ROS bills. The fee is fixed in most cities in Russia and now after ruble devaluated it gets 3 times cheaper (being restated in US$, of course). Currently I pay something around $3 monthly. Not a big amount. I think these delays in bill payments were due to problems with banks. Just delays. Lot of companies (including VIP) had to change their banks last month. As to hard currency, VIP was never being paid dollars. It is simply against the law. They collect payments in rubles using current exchange rate (charges are set in US$). Kind regards, Alex