MOSCOW, May 17 (RIA Novosti) - ICQ Co., author and holder of an Internet pager of the same name, has officially announced its emergence in the Russian advertising market. Rambler's partner, the company hopes to come as a formidable rival of Russia's principal portals -- Yandex and Mail.ru, reports the Moscow-based economic daily, Vedomosti.

ICQ focuses its global strategies on regional markets, in which it joins efforts with local companies, says Eyal Cohen, ICQ Vice-President. ICQ plus AOL Messenger together have a total 200 million users, Russians accounting for 2.2 million of these. They turn to the program every month.

ICQ has doubled its daily audience in Russia to 1.35 million since the year's start, and is determined to double it again within the year, Cohen said. To ensure its success, the company will widely advertise its pager in Russia -- something it has never done before.

Ivan Zasursky, Rambler Deputy Director General, expects Microsoft to come as ICQ's most formidable rival in Russia, with its MSN Instant Messenger pager. ICQ has to be quick to attract all potential pager users before Microsoft makes its appearance on the Russian Internet domain, he warns.

AdWatch agency specifies the Yandex daily audience at 4.5 million, Mail.ru 3.8 million, and Rambler.ru, three million.