Dear All, There has been a delay in this response as I had to consult with our lawyers specialised in Russian legal issues. Further to your request I would like to inform you on the following. I have been informed that the Russian tax legislation refers only to two situations when profits of a foreign legal entity are subject to Russian profits tax (article 247 of the Russian Tax Code): - Where such profits are attributable to a permanent establishment of the legal entity in question; - Where such profits are derived from sources in the Russian Federation (for the legal entities which have no permanent establishments in Russia). RIPE NCC has no permanent establishment in Russia as it is "physically" not present in Russia. All services are rendered from our offices in Amsterdam. Therefore, RIPE NCC may only be taxed in Russia in respect of the Russian source income. Article 309 of the Russian Tax Code lists the types of "passive" income or income in some way territorially connected to Russia which are considered being Russian source and thus taxable in Russia in the hands of a foreign entity. Since income derived from services physically carried out in the Netherlands does not fall into this category, therefore our service fees are not taxed in Russia and you do not have to withhold 20% tax from fees paid to us. This follows from Russian domestic legislation an there is therefore no need to involve the double tax treaty between Russia and the Netherlands. Consequently, in our view, there is no need to provide Russian tax authorities with a certified copy of the residence confirmation. We do understand that you may need this document for your internal use and we can provide you with an electronic copy of the certificate. We are in the process of setting up an on-line fact sheet for Russian members, and this electronic copy may be placed there if necessary. Regards, Jochem de Ruig RIPE NCC At 05:32 PM 10/4/2005 +0400, Êðûëîâ À.Â. wrote:

And here is the official letter sent by our Accounting Department to RIPE NCC:

Dear Sirs!

OJSC "CenterTelecom" sent You the fax ¹ 08-15/219 dated August 24, 2005 with the request to provide the document, which confirms the permanent residence of RIPE NCC on the territory of the Netherlands, besides that You were informed about the procedure of issuing and certification of the corresponding document authenticity by the competent bodies. However, in response to our fax You have submitted the documents in the form of uncertified copies, so the documents drawn up this way don't comply with the Russian Federation tax authorities requirements, and can't give occasion to the application of the Agreement on Double Taxation Avoidance. We kindly request You to inform us as soon as possible if this document will be filed to us certified by the competent body of the Netherlands and if it will be sealed with appostille. We would like to inform You once again that if You don't send us in the near future the document, confirming the residence of RIPE NCC, drawn up in the proper way, than in order to avoid the tax risks, OJSC "CenterTelecom" as a Fiscal Agent will have to deduct income tax equal to the rate set in item 2 Article 284 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (in this case the rate is 20%), so You will receive the income less income tax. Attachment: letter ¹08-15/219 dated August 24, 2005.

Yours sincerely,

First Deputy General Director- Financial Director À.À. Lokotkov

Chief Accountant R.P. Konstantinova

mailto:krylov@centertelecom.ru