Comstar UTS: Comstar Board Approves Change in Sberbank's Credit Facility Repayment Terms and Increase in Capital Expenditure Levels for 2009

• Press Release
• Source: Comstar
• On 3:00 am EDT, Friday September 18, 2009

MOSCOW, Russia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--“COMSTAR – United TeleSystems” JSC (“Comstar” or “the Group”) (LSE:CMST - News), the largest integrated telecommunications provider in Moscow and 69 Russian cities, today announced that the Board of Directors (the “Board”) has approved a change in the repayment terms for the 5-year RUR 26 billion ruble-denominated credit facility, which was provided by the Savings Bank of the Russian Federation (Sberbank) in June 2007.

The repayments, which amount to RUR 2.2 billion per quarter, were initially scheduled to start on September 27, 2009. The first two repayment installments have been postponed until March 27, 2010 and June 27, 2010 respectively, in line with an agreement reached between Comstar and Sberbank with regards to the debt restructuring. The rescheduled repayment plan does not involve an extension of the credit’s overall maturity time or an increase in the annual interest rate on the facility. Funds for the repayment of the first two tranches of the credit facility will be placed in Sberbank.

In addition, based on the Group’s operating results for the first six months of 2009, the Comstar Board of Directors has approved an increase in the maximum amount of capital expenditure for 2009 from 6% to 8% of the Group’s revenues. As previously, the investments will be used to connect new subscribers and implement a selective modernization of the Group’s regional networks.

The Board has also set the date for Comstar’s Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (“EGM”) for December 4, 2009. The Board has recommended the EGM to elect new members to the Board of Directors.

Shareholders registered as at the record date of September 17, 2009 will be eligible to participate and vote at the meeting. The EGM will take place at 11.00 am Moscow time at the following address: 12/3 Petrovsky Boulevard, Moscow, 127051, Russia.

Further information with regards to the EGM and other related issues will be available on the Company’s website http://www.comstar-uts.com/en/for_investors/corporative_management/.

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For further information, please visit www.comstar-uts.com.

Comstar-UTS is the leading fixed-line telecommunications company in Moscow. Comstar provides voice, data, television and other value-added services to residential and corporate subscribers and operators, using its extensive backbone network and exclusive last mile access to 97% of Moscow households. The Company also offers communications services in five Russian regions, Armenia and Ukraine. Comstar had 3.6 million residential subscribers and 791 thousand residential broadband internet subscribers in Moscow, as well as 324 thousand residential regional and international broadband internet subscribers and 2.0 million residential regional pay-TV subscribers at the end of June 2009. Comstar generated US$ 698.0 million of revenues and a 39.5% OIBDA margin for the six months ended June 30, 2009. Comstar’s Global Depositary Receipts are listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:CMST - News).

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Comstar UTS. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “will,” “could,” “may” or “might”, the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Comstar UTS wishes to caution that these statements are only predictions, and that actual events or results may differ materially. Comstar UTS does not intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Many factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in projections or forward-looking statements of Comstar UTS, including, among others, general economic conditions, the competitive environment, risks associated with operating in Russia, rapid technological and market change in the industries Comstar UTS operates in, as well as many other risks specifically related to Comstar UTS and its operations.

Comstar UTS
Masha Eliseeva
Tel: +7 985 997 0852
ir@comstar-uts.ru
or
Shared Value Limited
Matthew Hooper
Tel. +44 (0) 20 7321 5010
comstar@sharedvalue.net