RIA Novosti reports that despite massive oil revenues Russia's core industries are fading into oblivion:

MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) - Rostelecom [RTS: RTKM] posted a net profit of $100.67 million according to Russian Accounting Standards in the first half of 2006, down 51.7% from the same period of last year, Russia's largest long-distance telecom services provider said in a news release Tuesday.

The company said its revenue reached $1.07 billion in January-June, up 47.2% from last year's figure, while its pre-tax profit shrank 50.4% to $136.99 million.

EBITDA fell 41.2% year-on-year, to $204.22 million.

International traffic gained 1.2% during the period, with outgoing traffic growing 12.4% and incoming traffic up 27.6%.

Rostelecom's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.