ROSTELECOM PJSC (RKMD) 
ROSTELECOM PJSC: Rostelecom acquires a leading e-waste management developer 
 
30-Nov-2020 / 12:40 MSK 
Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information 
according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR), transmitted by EQS Group. 
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. 
 
         Rostelecom acquires a leading e-waste management developer 
 
   Moscow, Russia - November 30, 2020 - Rostelecom group (MOEX: RTKM, RTKMP; 
   OTCQX: ROSYY), the largest integrated digital service provider in Russia, 
     today announces that it has acquired 1% shares of Big3, a developer and 
  provider of complex IT systems for waste and environmental management. The 
      group has also signed a call-option agreement to increase Rostelecom's 
  participation to 51%, subject to exercising in H1 2021. The total value of 
       the deal stands at RUB 1.275 billion, including call option exercise. 
 
The acquisition will strengthen Rostelecom's leading position in the e-waste 
   management market, which is projected to reach over RUB 20 billion within 
 five coming years. Big3 will join Rostelecom as a subsidiary company, while 
                                       retaining key staff and competencies. 
 
Big3 is a Russian IT company and software developer aiming at facilitating 
ecology issues. A leader in the digitalisation of waste and environmental 
management and software e-waste market, the Company's products have been 
already implemented in over 60 regions. Big3 ensures fully automatization 
and digitalisation of business process across regional waste operators while 
their solutions can model the industry operations both at a level of 
particular territory as well as at a nationwide scale. The Company's 2020 
revenues are expected to reach RUB 1 billion. 
 
Anna Shumeiko, Senior Vice-President, the Chief of Staff of the President of 
 Rostelecom commented: "The acquisition of Big3 is a strategic milestone for 
        Rostelecom in the establishment of a new highly perspective business 
     cluster, which can be easily compared to such cornerstone businesses as 
 cyber security and cloud. Waste management and environmental responsibility 
  as a whole are becoming incredibly important for companies in every sector 
          and government authorities at the federal and regional levels. The 
significant investment in the development of IT systems in this space within 
the national Project "Ecology", recently launched by the Russian Government, 
  opens significant opportunities leveraging Big3's competencies and digital 
   solutions. This is especially relevant to expanding and complementing our 
     range of services given that a large number of Rostelecom's clients are 
       deeply involved in the smart city and smart region projects where the 
        nationwide scale of our operations makes us an undisputable leader." 
 
   Igor Zimin, Vice President for Applied Projects at Rostelecom, commented: 
   "The Big3 acquisition presents a new highly prospective source of growth, 
       offering the potential to increase the scale of our digital offering, 
    complemented by complex IT systems for environmental management. We have 
already started to mature some opportunities to expand this new cluster, and 
have been focusing in particular on the ways of digitising the management of 
        medical waste which presents epidemiological danger. In light of the 
         COVID-19 pandemics, the amount of PPE waste including facemasks and 
  single-use gloves that need to be sterilised, disinfected or recycled, has 
  increased substantially, and it is crucial to ensure that reliable control 
 measures and management tools and systems are in place. This process can be 
           significantly advanced and improved in efficiency with the use of 
                                            Rostelecom's digital solutions." 
 
Further information is available at 
https://www.company.rt.ru/en/ir/news_calendar/ [1]. 
 
                                   * * * 
 
Rostelecom [2] is the largest integrated digital services and products 
provider, operating in all segments of the telecommunications market in 
Russia. The Company serves millions of households, state and private 
enterprises across the country. 
 
       Rostelecom is Russia's undisputed market leader, providing high-speed 
   Internet access and pay-TV. The total number of broadband users stands at 
   over 13.4 mln users, it has more than 10.7 mln pay-TV customers, over 5.8 
  mln of which are subscribed to Rostelecom's IPTV services. Tele2 Russia, a 
  Rostelecom subsidiary, is a major player in the mobile market with over 44 
       mln subscribers and the industry-leading NPS, a customer satisfaction 
                                                                  benchmark. 
 
         The Group is the leading provider of telecommunications services to 
                             government bodies and corporates of all levels. 
 
      Rostelecom is a key strategic innovator that provides solutions in the 
       following fields: E-Government, cybersecurity, data-centers and cloud 
  computing, biometry, healthcare, education and housing & utility services. 
 
                                   * * * 
 
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements 
within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws and intended to be 
covered by the safe harbours created thereby. 
 
Those forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: 
 
? Assessment of PAO Rostelecom's (the Company) future operating and 
financial results as well as forecasts of the present value of future cash 
flows and related factors; 
 
? The Company's plans to take ownership stakes in other organisations; 
 
? the Company's anticipated capital expenditures and plans to construct 
and modernize its network; 
 
? the Company's expectations as to the growth in demand for its services, 
plans relating to the expansion of the range of its services and their 
pricing; 
 
? the Company's plans with respect to improving its corporate governance 
practices; 
 
? the Company's expectations as to its position in the telecommunications 
market and forecasts on the development of the market segments within 
which the Company operates; 
 
? economic outlook and industry trends; 
 
? the Company's expectations as to the regulation of the Russian 
telecommunications industry and assessment of impact of regulatory 
initiatives on the Company's activity; 
 
? other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts. 
 
Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and 
other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from 
those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, 
uncertainties and other factors include: 
 
? risks relating to changes in political, economic and social conditions 
in Russia as well as changes in global economic conditions; 
 
? risks relating to Russian legislation, regulation and taxation, 
including laws, regulations, decrees and decisions governing the Russian 
telecommunications industry, securities industry as well as currency and 
exchange controls relating to Russian entities and their official 
interpretation by regulatory bodies; 
 
? risks relating to the Company, including the achievement of the 
anticipated results, levels of profitability and growth, ability to create 
and meet demand for the Company's services including their promotions, and 
the ability of the Company to remain competitive in a liberalized 
telecommunications market; 
 
? technological risks associated with the functioning and development of 
the telecommunications infrastructure, technological innovations as well 
as the convergence of technologies; 
 
? other risks and uncertainties. For a more detailed discussion of these 
and other factors, see the Company's Annual Report and the Company's other 
public filings. 
 
Many of these factors are beyond the Company's ability to control or 
predict. Given these and other uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to 
place undue reliance on any of the forward-looking statements contained 
herein or otherwise. The Company does not undertake any obligation to 
release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements (which 
are made as of the date hereof) to reflect events or circumstances upon the 
annual report publication or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated 
events, except as may be required under applicable laws. 
 
ISIN:          US7785291078 
Category Code: ACQ 
TIDM:          RKMD 
LEI Code:      2534001D752JPNM0H170 
Sequence No.:  88754 
EQS News ID:   1151438 
 
End of Announcement EQS News Service 
 
 
1: https://eqs-cockpit.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=6415b37abbeaba846e8e06da62607d4f&application_id=1151438&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 
2: https://eqs-cockpit.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=2191e3bd109978bbadf8617de6d24ca7&application_id=1151438&site_id=vwd&application_name=news

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 30, 2020 04:40 ET (09:40 GMT)