BEELINE ALREADY INVESTED 130 MILLION DOLLARS IN ARMENIA’S COMMUNICATION SECTOR

Noyan Tapan

Au g 5, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The ArmenTel Staff Training Center has
been granted status of a Beeline university.The head of VimpelCom’s
Staff Service for CIS Countries Galina Voranetskaya said that ArmenTel
will become the first of the companies acquired by VimpelCom to
have a university of corporate teaching. The university will also
be the first of this kind in Armenia. The task of the university
is to assist with the concept of the company’s development and its
strategic goals. The employees to be trained in Armenia will be used
in all other branches of the company.

In the words of Yelena Kovalchuk, ArmenTel’s Director for
Organizational Development Issues, the whole staff of the company is
now being tested. All those to pass the test successfully will have
the opportunity to undergo training. In the last six months, 4,000
employees were trained, while the remaining 1,890 employees will be
trained in the next six months. Y. Kovalchuk stated that all those
who have a desire and opportunity to be trained will continue to work
in the company – regardless of their age. In her words, the company
will have to dismiss those employees who are unable or unwilling to
undergo training.

According to Director General of ArmenTel Neycho Velichkov, the
university should help raise the quality of services provided by
the company, which will eventually result in a growth of ArmenTel’s
incomes. He said that all the employees of the company have to undergo
training and receive a qualification, but he did not announce the date,
starting from which the proper level of services will be ensured.

N. Velichkov said that with the aim of improving IDSL service, the
company plans to install new equipment and increase the speed of the
Internet connection.

According to ArmenTel’s director, Beeline has already invested more
than 130 million USD (80 million USD in 2007, 40 million USD in
the first half of 2008) for development of ArmenTel. In addition to
fulfiling its licence obligations, the company is also implementing
new development programs. The degree of fixed phone connection
digitalization currently makes 58% in the country and will make about
80% by late 2008. ArmenTel envisages to reach 100% digitalization.