Moscow, Russia – March 21, 2007 - “COMSTAR – United TeleSystems” JSC (“Comstar”) (LSE: CMST), the leading combined telecommunications operator in Russia and CIS, today announced that it has been awarded licenses to provide data transmission in the Kemerovo, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Sverdlovsk and Tumen regions, as well as in the Stavropol and Primorsk territories, and in the Republic of Tatarstan. The licenses are valid until February 9, 2012.

Eric Franke, President of Comstar UTS, commented: “These new licenses further extend our coverage into key regions that are growing in size, spending power and demand for services. We plan to roll out a range of data services, in order to extend our current telephony offering for our growing base of corporate clients by offering a suite of advanced data solutions. This follows our announcement in January that we had obtained licenses for IP Voice and Data transmission, including WiMAX services, in the twenty largest regions in Russia. Both of these steps reflect our strategic focus on expanding Comstar’s regional presence by providing telecommunication solutions for corporate and high end residential customers in priority regions. The expansion of our footprint and service offering will further strengthen our market leading position.”