The CyberPlat® Payment System’s Semiannual Turnover has Exceeded 1 Billion US Dollars

Moscow, Russia, November 25, 2006 --(PR.com)-- Andrey Gribov, General Director of CyberPlat.com: “Our semiannual results have secured us even a greater breakaway from the nearest rivals in terms of the caliber of our business, manifested in its turnover, as well as fault tolerance and reliability; according to these characteristics, CyberPlat® has outperformed the nearest competing system by almost five times.”

CyberPlat®, the first Russian payment system, was created in 1997. The first online payments were executed on March 18, 1998 and August 12, 1998 for the benefit of the Garant-Park Company and a major mobile operator, VimpelCom, respectively.

For the first six months of 2006, the total turnover of the CyberPlat® payment system has reached 1 billion 19 million US dollars; that exceeds the turnover of the same period in 2005 by a factor of 2.54. Thus, the CyberPlat.Com Company has not only proved, but firmly established its status of Russia’s biggest payment system. Payments from mobile communication subscribers account for the biggest turnover share—97%; fixed-line communication services and the Internet comprise 2% of the turnover, and less than 1% falls at the payments for satellite and cable television.

The financial development and business activity of the company have been acknowledged by the leading players of the telecommunications market, and it was conferred diplomas of the biggest mobile communication operators. At the current stage of development, CyberPlat® accepts over 16 % of proceeds of each of the “big three” mobile operators.

For the first six months of 2006, over 240 million transactions have been executed through the CyberPlat® payment system, and a threshold of 55 million transactions per month was surpassed; which is greater by a factor of 4.6 compared to the same period indicators of 2005. By the daily volumes of payments, CyberPlat® is presently the country’s biggest payment system, which, according to experts, outperforms the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in the number of transactions. At that, it is noteworthy that payment processing in CyberPlat® is carried out online and takes no more than two seconds per one operation.

The overall number of the CyberPlat® system’s payment acceptance outlets increased 60% in the first half of 2006 and reached the total of over 24 000 by the beginning of July. Presently, by the number of payment acceptance points, CyberPlat® has outstripped the biggest Russian bank—the Savings Bank of Russia which possesses the most developed branch chain of more than 20 000 offices throughout the country.

Successful advancement of the FSUE Post of Russia and CyberPlat® joint project for cash payment acceptance in the vast Russian post office network should particularly be emphasized. In the passed six months, the number of regions of the Russian Federation where, nowadays, post offices accept payments has risen from 44 to 54.

The company’s operations are growing following the general trends in the development and expansion of the Russian telecommunications market; and the facts suggest excellent prospects for the industry as a whole and the CyberPlat® Company, accordingly.

Recently, the CyberPlat® specialists performed the system's efficiency and reliability testing. The test results have shown: the system is capable of processing over 700 thousand transactions per hour or 200 transactions per second. Significantly, in peak load moments—including periods when, due to technical failures, other payment systems do not operate, or after a big mobile operator recovers the operating capability of its billing system and the flow of CyberPlat® payments is on a significant increase—the maximum load on the system remains within 200 thousand transactions per hour. This means that the CyberPlat®'s capacity is more than 3.5 times in excess of the current peak needs.

The CyberPlat®'s fault tolerance indicator outflanked the one of the nearest competitor over five times. The System simultaneously operates in two independent offices with the main office located in the Moscow World Trade Center. The second office is kept in reserve and operates in standby mode. The communication between the two offices is effected via two alternative channels. This type of reserve provision ensures a much higher fault tolerance of CyberPlat®, as well as independence from the majority of force majeure events, compared to competing platforms.

The CyberPlat Company, unlike other systems, possesses relevant licenses of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, Federal Service for Technical and Export Control, and other agencies.

The detailed report on the company’s operation is available at:
http://www.cyberplat.com/press.php?id=140

###