UPDATE: Rostelecom’s board appoints VTB exec Oseyevsky as operator’s head

(Adds Oseyevsky’s comment in second paragraph)

MOSCOW, Mar 3 (PRIME) -- The board of directors of Russian state-controlled telecom operator Rostelecom has appointed Mikhail Oseyevsky, a deputy chairman at VTB Bank, as the company’s president starting from Saturday for five years, the operator said Friday in a statement.

“Rostelecom has profoundly changed the structure of its business over the recent years, moving toward digital services, but there is still room for growth in this direction. We’ll keep on working on the provision of digital services in remote areas, the fulfilment of the digital divide bridging project,” Oseyevsky said, as quoted in the statement.

Oseyevsky replaced Sergei Kalugin, who had been at the helm since March 2013.

The board’s Chairman Sergei Ivanov wished Oseyevsky success and said he is confident that the company will continue to strengthen its positions on the local market of digital services. Ivanov also thanked Kalugin for fruitful work.

Kalugin will likely join the Communications and Mass Media Ministry as a deputy minister, according to Minister Nikolai Nikiforov and Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

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