“COMSTAR – United TeleSystems” (“Comstar UTS”) (LSE: CMST), the leading provider of integrated telecommunication services in Russia and the CIS, today announced that it has arranged a US$ 675 million six month loan facility with ABN AMRO Bank N.V. The interest rate was fixed at 1.2% above LIBOR. The term of the loan can be extended to twelve months.

Nikolay Tokarev, Chief Financial Officer of Comstar UTS, commented: “The loan has been raised in connection with the recent acquisition of the 25% plus one share in Svyazinvest. We have increased the debt level in the capital structure of the Company with this important transaction, which is the first of this size for Comstar UTS. This increase in leverage has also benefited the Company by reducing the weighted average cost of capital”.