Russia's MTS Buys Stakes in Four Minor Regional Companies

MOSCOW, April 4 (Prime-Tass) -- Russia?s largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has bought controlling stakes in four minor regional Russian companies, MTS said in a statement Tuesday.

The company did not disclose the financial details of the deals.

In particular, MTS bought 100% in Krasintel, 50% in Telecom-Service and 50% in Uraltel-Plus telecommunication companies. In addition, MTS increased its stake in Tomsk-based private security firm Shchittelecom to 100% from 1%, MTS said.

Krasintel, based in Krasnoyarsk, offers IP telephony services.

Telecom-Service, headquartered in Kazan, supplies and repairs handsets and other electronic equipment.

Uraltel-Plus, based in Yekaterinburg, provides mobile and satellite services.

MTS is the largest mobile operator in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe and is licensed to provide services over an area with a total population of 233.1 million people.

MTS' subscriber base stood at 60.31 million people as of February 28, including 45.45 million people in Russia.

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Posted to the site on 4th April 2006