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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                    CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

I, Alexander Vinogradov, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Golden Telecom, Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report;

4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

         (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
         disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
         supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
         registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to
         us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in
         which this quarterly report is being prepared;

         (b) (paragraph omitted pursuant to SEC Release Nos. 33-8238, 34-47986,
         33-8392 and 34-49313);

         (c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
         and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
         effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
         of the period covered by the report based on such evaluation; and

         (d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
         control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's
         most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is
         reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
         control over financial reporting; and;

5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of directors
(or persons performing the equivalent function):

         (a) All significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal
         controls over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to
         adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize
         and report financial information; and

         (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
         other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
         internal controls over financial reporting.

Date: May 7, 2004

ALEXANDER VINOGRADOV
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Alexander Vinogradov
President, Chief Executive Officer and
Director