The Russian Trading System (RTS) Tuesday launched a new securities trading floor to facilitate trade in equities issued by small and medium-sized companies.

RTS Start is a segment of the RTS stock exchange, created as an alternative investment market with the goal of increasing the number of securities traded on the Russian market. It allows companies with revenue up to 1.2 billion rubles ($40 million) and capitalization of up to 3 billion rubles (about $100 million) to place their shares.

"This technology has tremendous potential and allows a large number of companies to gain access to the stock market," said RTS President Oleg Safonov.

The main feature of RTS Start is the obligatory presence of a market maker and an authorized financial consultant. Securities listed on RTS Start can also be included on the "B", "V" or "I" quotation lists on the main RTS floor, following appropriate listing procedures.

So far, only one company is listed on RTS Start - the Kommunar paper mill, based in the Leningrad Region. The company's capitalization is estimated at $6.95 million as of 2006.

"If four to 10 companies trade their shares on this [RTS Start] floor by the end of 2007, we will consider our project a success," RTS Vice President Anna Trifonova said.

At present, the most popular trading floor for Russian companies with small and medium capitalization is AIM on the London Stock Exchange. Since 2000, more than 10 companies have placed their securities there, including two firms in 2006.