In a rescue move after being hit hard by the recession, Russian fixed-line telecoms operator, North-West Telecom (NWT), is to borrow up to $280 million in roubles this year.

NWT has stated that it plans to scale back or postpone several projects in order to improve its liquidity and free up cash to help it deal with the effects of the financial crisis. Its earnings statement explained, ‘the group’s management believes that implementation of certain projects can be delayed or their scale can be reduced if needed.’

The firm said that although it plans to cut its investments from 14 billion roubles in 2008 to just 8 billion roubles this year, it will continue to make investments in broadband and other high-yield areas.

The firm’s borrowing plans include up to 7 billion roubles in domestic bonds and 4.54 billion roubles from the Sberkank state bank. The borrowing plan is going ahead despite news that the interest rates on loans taken out in 2009 have increased to as much as 13.75%, up from 8.34% last year and 7.87% the year before.