Exhibit 10.56

DATED
as of January 1, 2003

EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

METROMEDIA INTERNATIONAL
TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.
AND
NATALIA ALEXEEVA

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DATED
AS OF January 1, 2003

PARTIES

INTRODUCTION

WHEREAS,
the Company and the Employee are parties to an Employment Agreement, dated as of June 29, 2000 (the "2000 Employment Agreement");

WHEREAS,
the Company and Employee desire to amend certain of the terms contained in the 2000 Employment Agreement and to continue to provide for the Company's employment of the Employee
as the Company's Vice President and Assistant General Counsel from and after the effective date of this Agreement;

WHEREAS,
the Employee desires to be employed by the Company from and after the effective date hereof on the terms and conditions herein provided; and

NOW
THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and of the respective covenants and agreements of the parties herein contained, the parties hereto agree as follows:

INTERPRETATION

|the Appointment |  | the employment of the Employee pursuant to this Agreement;                                                                 
|--------------- |  | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|the Board       |  | the board of directors of the Company for the time being (including any committee of the Board) or MIG, as the case may be;
|                |  |                                                                                                                            

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|Change of Control     |  | shall mean the occurence of any of the following events (1) the acquisition of 30% or more of the voting securities of the Company or those of MIG by any person or persons (together with all affiliates as defined in the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended, of such person or persons), whether by tender or exchange offer or otherwise, (2) a proxy contest for the election of directors of MIG, (3) any merger, consolidation of the Company or MIG with or into another company,
(4) any sale, transfer or other disposition of all or substantially all of the shares, assets or business of the Company or MIG in one transaction or a series of related transactions to one of more persons or entities, (5) the dissolution
or liquidation of the Company or MIG, (6) the persons constituting the majority of the Board of the Company or the Board of Directors of MIG as of January 1, 2003, cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority of the Board then in
office, (7) the occurrence of an Event of Default under the Indenture, dated September 30, 1999, governing MIG's outstanding 101/2% Senior Discount Notes Due 2007 (the term "Event of Default" as used herein shall
have the meaning ascribed to it in the said Indenture) or (8) significant reorganization of the Company or MIG occurs, such as a spin-off, sale of assets of a business or other restructuring, and as a result, the duties and responsibilities of
the Employee are materially reduced.
|--------------------- |  | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|the Commencement Date |  | January 1, 2003;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
|Documents             |  | documents, disks, memory, notebooks, tapes or any other medium, whether or not eye-readable, on which information may from time to time be recorded;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
|Group Company         |  | the Company and any company which directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the Company, including without limitation, Metromedia International Group, Inc., PLD Telekom Inc. and any of their
respective affiliates or subsidiaries;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|Home Country          |  | United States;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|Key Employee          |  | any individual who is (or was in the 12 months period prior to the Termination Date) employed in either (a) an executive or management capacity; or                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
|                      |  | (b) a capacity in which he or she has access to or obtained Confidential Information, but (for the avoidance of doubt) not including any employee whose duties are purely administrative or clerical or who is employed in a support capacity;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|MIG                   |  | Metromedia International, Group, Inc., the sole shareholder in the Company                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
|                      |  |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

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|Permitted Interest     |  | an interest in (i) any class of shares or other securities of any company which are traded on a recognized stock exchange which amounts to not more than five percent of such class of issued shares or securities or (ii) any regulated mutual
fund or authorized unit trust;
|---------------------- |  | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Place of Employment    |  | shall have the meaning given in Section 1.2;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
|Pre-Termination Period |  | the period of six months immediately preceding the Termination Date;                                                                                                                                                                                                          
|Supervisor             |  | the General Counsel of the Company;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
|Termination Date       |  | the date of termination or expiration of the Appointment howsoever occurring.                                                                                                                                                                                                 

OPERATIVE
PROVISIONS

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By
signing this Agreement, the Employee consents to the recording, processing, use, disclosure, and transfer by the Company of personal data relating to him in compliance with all
applicable laws.

For
all purposes required by law, the Company has nominated the chief legal officer of the Company as its representative.

IN
WITNESS WHEREOF the Parties have executed this Employment Agreement.

METROMEDIA
INTERNATIONAL
TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.

|By: | /s/CARL BRAZELLCarl Brazell         | 
|--- | ----------------------------------- | 
|    | President, CEO                      | 
|By: | /s/NATALIA ALEXEEVANatalia Alexeeva | 

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