MTS Ranked in the World's 100 Most Powerful Brands With a Brand Value of $9.2 Billion

MTS Ranked in the World's 100 Most Powerful Brands With a Brand Value of $9.2BillionMOSCOW, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS" - NYSE:MBT), the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and the CIS, announced thatit has been named as one of the BRANDZ(TM) Top 100 Most Powerful Brands, aranking published by the Financial Times and Millward Brown, a leading globalmarket research and consulting firm. For the second year in a row, MTS joinsthe ranks of the most powerful brands in the world with a value of $9.2billion at the 71st position. As in 2008, MTS is the most valuable Russianbrand in the ranking and one of the 10 most valuable telecoms brands in theworld. MTS brand has risen 18 spots to become the 71st most powerful brandglobally with a value of $9.2 billion, up from $8.1 billion in 2008. Theunequivocal growth in brand value over the year is primarily due to theCompany's continued execution on its corporate strategy, strong growth andits leadership positions in the Russian and CIS markets. MTS launched its current brand in May 2006, building on its marketleadership and reputation as the highest quality operator in the region. MTShas built the largest network in the CIS and offers the widest coverage areain the region, providing its customers with consistent high-qualityexperience. With over 96 million subscribers, out of total population of 230million in the markets in which it operates, MTS has the largest mobilecustomer base in the CIS. Subscribers trust the MTS brand as it representshigh quality and offers the most innovative products. "Global recognition of our brand strength is a testament to both thesuccess of MTS and the growing interest in our markets of operation. Our risein the rankings is a strong indication that we are fulfilling our strategyand generating greater affinity for the MTS brand among our customers,"commented Mr. Mikhail Gerchuk, Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer ofMTS. "Given the sustained growth in our business and recent introduction ofthe MTS brand to India we are confident that the MTS brand will continue tostrengthen in the coming years." About Millward Brown's Ranking The BRANDZ Ranking is the only brand ranking based on primary research -it therefore reflects the perceptions of people who really count - brandusers and consumers. Derived from BRANDZ database, the world's largestrepository of brand equity data, the BRANDZ study has interviewed more thanone million consumers globally and covers 50,000 brands worldwide. The BRANDZRanking is the first study to cover both business and consumer brands and toinclude predictive metrics of future brand performance. Market performancemetrics and financial data were obtained from Datamonitor and Bloombergrespectively. Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS") is the largest mobile phone operator inRussia and the CIS. Together with its subsidiaries, the Company services over92.19 million subscribers. The regions of Russia, as well as Armenia,Belarus, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, in which MTS and itsassociates and subsidiaries are licensed to provide GSM services, have atotal population of more than 230 million. Since June 2000, MTS' Level 3 ADRshave been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol MBT).Additional information about MTS can be found on MTS' website athttp://www.mtsgsm.com. Some of the information in this press release may contain projections orother forward-looking statements regarding future events or the futurefinancial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of theU.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identifyforward looking statements by terms such as "expect," "believe,""anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "will," "could," "may" or "might," andthe negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to cautionyou that these statements are only predictions and that actual events orresults may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements toreflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or toreflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to the documentsMTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,specifically the Company's most recent Form 20-F. These documents contain andidentify important factors, including those contained in the sectioncaptioned "Risk Factors" that could cause the actual results to differmaterially from those contained in our projections or forward-lookingstatements, including, among others, potential fluctuations in quarterlyresults, our competitive environment, dependence on new service developmentand tariff structures, rapid technological and market change, acquisitionstrategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, risksassociated with operating in Russia and the CIS, volatility of stock price,financial risk management and future growth subject to risks. For further information, please contact: Mobile TeleSystems, Moscow Investor Relations Tel: +7-495-223-2025 E-mail: ir@mts.ru