The course of treatment in both groups shall be 12 weeks, and efficacy analysis, i.e. rate of rapid (after the 4th week) and early (after the 12th week) virologic response will be based on PCR data. For patients with treatment failure after the 12th week the antiviral therapy shall be discontinued. All patients who require further anti-viral treatment will receive a combination treatment with Algeron / Pegasys and ribavirin for another 12 or 36 weeks (depending on the HCV genotype). Sustained virologic response will be assessed 24 weeks after last dose of study treatment.