“We have achieved high results in terms of business in Uzbekistan, so currently we have to strengthen our success and become a leading service company operating in several countries. I am sure that using his experience received in Uzbekistan Igor Pilyugin will be able to achieve the stated objectives," said Dmitry Pleskonos, executive Vice-President, Business Development in CIS.

Igor Pilyugin has built the business in Tajikistan practically from the ground. Under his management the subscriber base of Tacom, Ltd., reached 412,000 by the end of January, according to AC&M Consulting. The company’s market share is 20.16%.

Igor Pilyugin was born in 1973 in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. In 1996 he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology with a red diploma as an engineer-physicist. He finished the post-graduate course at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (Moscow) and participated in the international experiment NEMO-2 (France).

He studied general management at the Beeline University in 2001-2002. He received the certificate of Professional Project Manager of the Project Management Institute.

He was invited into Vimpelcom’s IT Directorate (Moscow) in 2000. After three years, he left for the Directorate of Strategic Development and in 2005 Igor Pilyugin was responsible for integration of nine Russian subsidiaries of Vimpelcom. Prior to appointment to Unitel, Pilyugin headed Tacom, Ltd., Vimpelcom’s subsidiary in Tajikistan.

Vimpelcom Group includes cellular companies operating in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and recently acquired companies in Georgia and Armenia. The Company operates under Beeline brand. The VimpelCom Group’s license portfolio covers approximately 240 million people. Geographically it covers 78 regions of Russia with 136.5 million people, representing 94% of Russia’s population as well as the entire territories of Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia and Armenia. The company’s net income and revenue for Q3 2006 was US$268.4 million and US$$1.36 million respectively.