EQS-Regulatory: PJSC ROSTELECOM: Gazprom Neft and Rostelecom sign a strategic partnership agreement to implement the industrial internet of things and other innovative technologies

PJSC ROSTELECOM / Miscellaneous - Low Priority PJSC ROSTELECOM: Gazprom Neft and Rostelecom sign a strategic partnership agreement to implement the industrial internet of things and other innovative technologies 08-Feb-2017 / 09:00 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement, transmitted by EquityStory.RS, LLC - a company of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Gazprom Neft and Rostelecom sign a strategic partnership agreement to implement the industrial internet of things and other innovative technologies

February 08, 2017, Moscow - Rostelecom has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Gazprom Neft on the industrial internet of things (IIoT) development. The key goal of the agreement is to establish long-term and effective cooperation between the two companies to form new business models as well as to develop and implement innovative IT technologies.

The cooperation will focus on joint programmes and activities, research and projects in the IIoT space*. As part of this move, Rostelecom is currently involved in the creation of a platform which, with the help of the Company's engineers, will be tuned to Gazprom Neft's current and prospective business processes and industrial applications.

Maria Florentieva, Senior Vice President Rostelecom PJSC believes that the strategic partnership agreement is a logical outcome of companies' cooperation in IT: 'The industrial internet of things is one of the most important trends today which will affect a lot of areas in the nearest future. IIoT has huge potential and will help ensure workflow efficiency and security in the oil and gas sector as well as forecast possible issues and arrange measures to address them. Rostelecom has been working with major companies to help them achieve the strategic objectives and this remains a key strand of our business development, including the agreement with Gazprom Neft.'

Konstantin Kravchenko, Head of IT Department at Gazprom Neft noted: 'The cooperation between the two companies is aimed at the creation and implementation of IIoT technologies in Russia as well as the joint development of relevant standards. IIoT is high on the agenda for all industries including the oil and gas sector and Gazprom Neft has been consistently supporting the interaction between enterprises, vendors, software suppliers, telecom operators and R&D centres to develop the IIoT market in our country'.

*Industrial Internet (Industrial Internet, Industrial Internet of Things, IIoT) is the concept of building an information communication infrastructure. It involves the connection of any non-domestic devices, equipment, gauges, sensors and automated systems to the Internet, as well as the integration of these elements together, which leads to the formation of new business models for the creation of goods and services and their delivery to customers.

* * * Rostelecom (www.rostelecom.ru) is one of the largest national telecommunications operators in Russia and Europe. The Company operates in all segments of the telecommunications market and covers millions of households in Russia.

Rostelecom is an undisputable leader of the broadband and pay-TV markets in Russia with over 12.2 million fixed-line broadband subscribers and over 9.2 million pay-TV subscribers, over 4.0 million of which are subscribed to Rostelecom's IPTV services.

In the nine months of 2016 the Group generated RUB 217.0 billion of revenue, RUB 72.4 billion of OIBDA (33.4% of revenue) and RUB 8.7 billion of net income.

The Group is a market leader in providing telecommunications services to government bodies and corporates of all levels.

Rostelecom is an important innovator that provides solutions in the field of E-Government, cloud computing, healthcare, education, security and housing & utility services.

The Group's stable financial position confirmed by its credit ratings. Rostelecom was assigned 'BBB-' and 'BB+' international credit ratings by Fitch Ratings and Standard&Poor's respectively.

* * * 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 Rostelecom's PJSC (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.

Note: This announcement contains inside information in accordance with Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 of November 10, 2014 Full name and position making the announcement - Ekaterina Ustinova, IR Director.

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