MOSCOW – CenterTelecom OJSC reports that it has taken part in the annual Rural Youth Forum held in Smolensk. This year's conference topic was "Development of Municipal Territories: Modernization Standards and Efficiency Criteria." Traditionally in the course of the forum CenterTelecom branches arrange video conferencing between Russia's Central Federal District's regions.

Nikolai Kovalenko, Deputy General Director, Director of the Smolensk branch, CenterTelecom, has presented his report on informatization in the rural territories at the plenary session of the forum. He pointed out: "An improvement of the quality of life and a process of rural urbanization based on expanded access to newest information services regardless of the subscribers' points of residence are as important as gas pipelines laying and road construction in non-urban areas. Digital and optic fiber telecommunications lines and Internet penetration allow the population of the rural localities to become more informed, mobile and free."

The plenary session has been held in the central office of CenterTelecom's Smolensk branch, a general technical partner of the forum. Two other sessions ("Youth Entrepreneurship Development" and "Rural Youth Housing Industrial Complexes") have been conducted as video conferences with other Russia's Central Federal District's regions.

Sergei Khanenkov, Deputy Commercial Director, Director of Business Strategic Development and Marketing Department, CenterTelecom, in his opening speech at the plenary session pointed out that the Smolensk branch of the company cooperates with regional authorities in connection with the region's information and telecommunications development. The company also supports the Smolensk regional administration's events aimed at popularization of new technologies. According to Mr. Khanenkov, such events are mostly focused on young people who have modern thinking and are able to learn new skills. CenterTelecom actively cooperates with the young customers, providing them telecommunications services and supporting educational and entertaining events all over the territory where the company operates.

The Rural Youth Forum is conducted in order to attract the society's attention to rural youth's problems, to discuss how to solve these problems, and to find ways of use of young specialists' potential for social and economic development of rural territories.