UralsvyazInform, main telephone operator in the Ural region has won a $67m loan to expand and upgrade the region’s telecommunications infrastructure. An agreement was reached between Perm Regional Government and the German Government last month. The first $11.3m installment of the loan will be used to purchase equipment from German-based telecommunications supplier Alcatel Telecom GmbH. The loan is part of the German government-backed scheme to help German firms in former Eastern Bloc markets. UralsvyazInform will receive the first part of the loan via Dresdner Bank. The remainder will be channeled through Hermes, a German governmental export insurance company. The rest will be negotiated on a year-on-year basis and its dispersal will be dependent on modernization plans submitted by UralsvyazInform.
