According to the official data provided by Uralvyazinform JSC, the regional mobile phone operator, their net profit has dropped by 45.4% in the second quarter of 2006 (down to 554.998 million RUR) compared to the first quarter. This is due to the fact that the growth of the company’s regular expenses within this period has exceeded the increase in profits, which led to operating profit decreasing by 109m RUR. Besides, the company has had to pay 1.7 times more in terms of income tax.