The action follows the merger of Lillian Acquisition Inc., an indirect subsidiary of OJSC Vimpel-Communication, with and into GTI with GTI becoming an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of VimpelCom. The rating withdrawn is the Ba3 Corporate Family Rating.

Golden Telecom Inc. is a facilities-based provider of voice, data and Internet services to corporations, operators and consumers in 18 major cities in Russia including Moscow and St. Petersburg, Almaty in Kazakhstan and Tashkent in Uzbekistan. The company also offers mobile services in Kiev and Odessa, Ukraine. As at 31 December 2007, GTI had $1.3 billion in revenue and $309 million in reported EBITDA. The company derived 93% of its revenue from corporate and carrier and operator services.