Moscow, Russia - 1 February 2008 - JSC Sistema-Hals (LSE, MICEX: HALS), one of the leading diversified companies operating in the real estate markets of Russia and the CIS, has announced the appointment of Sergey Shmakov as First Vice President for Property Development.

The former First Vice President for Property Development, Azariy Lapidus, will head the Company Board of Directors' permanent council for operating policy and expert project appraisal.

Felix Evtushenkov, President of JSC Sistema-Hals, said: "Today we are shifting the focus from active forming of the Company's portfolio to systematic implementation of the scaled development programme. Both appointments are aimed at providing more effective management of Sistema-Hals' strategic goals. "

He added "Sergey Shmakov has many years of experience in the area of property development and an expert knowledge of property market processes. This appointment will naturally boost our management team, allowing us to achieve the strategic objective of strengthening our company's market lead. Azariy Lapidus has a great deal of professionalism and experience in construction, particularly in implementing the Company's projects, and will continue to use this expertise in his new role where he will focus on conducting analysis and feasibility assessments of Sistema-Hals' design concepts and solutions."

Sergey Shmakov

Born 1950 in Moscow

Education: PhD, Faculty of Economics, Moscow State Institute of International Relations

Work experience:

From 1972 to 1991 worked in various capacities at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (Soviet Academy of Sciences) under the auspices of the Ministry for External Economic Relations.

1991 - 1994: - head of external economic relations for JSC Russian Commodities and Raw Materials Exchange and JSC City

1994 - 1996: - head of real estate at European Trading Bank

1996 - 2004: - general director of Capital Group

From 2004: - held his proper real estate projects

Azariy Lapidus

Born 1958.

Education: V.V. Kuibishev Moscow Institute of Civil Engineering (MISI)

PhD in technical sciences, professor, designer of merit of the Russian Federation, honorary designer of the Russian Federation, honorary designer of Moscow

Work experience:

1988: - formed construction cooperative Sphere A, specialising in surveying and renovating old buildings in Moscow.

1989: - established CJSC SUIproject, specialising in the construction of major non-conventional properties in Moscow and Moscow Oblast.

1997: - merged CJSC SUIproject with subsidiaries to form CJSC SUIholding

From March 2005: - Vice President of the Board of Directors of Sistema-Hals

From March 2006: - Senior Vice President in charge of Civil Engineering at JSC Sistema-Hals

From October 2007: - Senior Vice President in charge of Property Development at JSC Sistema-Hals

JSC Sistema-Hals is one of the leading diversified companies operating in the real estate markets of Russia and the CIS. The core businesses of Sistema-Hals are property development, project management and construction, asset management and facility management.

Sistema-Hals was the first Russian property developer to list on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. The company's shares are also traded on the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) and the Moscow Stock Exchange. The AFK-Sistema Group holds a 71.1% stake in Sistema-Hals, while 18% of the company's shares have been floated. Sistema-Hals is one of the largest companies by market capitalisation operating in the real estate markets of Central and Eastern Europe.

Since its establishment in 1994, Sistema-Hals has successfully completed more than 30 projects with a total area in the region of 300,000 square metres, including the headquarters of DaimlerChrysler, the Hals-Tower office building, the headquarters of TMK Pipe Metallurgical Plant and a hotel for the MaMaison chain (Orco Property Group).

Sistema-Hals is currently building the Leningradsky Towers complex, which comprises two buildings, one of which will be the headquarters of Siemens in Moscow. It is also working on an integrated programme for the redevelopment of properties belonging to the Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS), rebuilding the Hotel Peking and the Central Detsky Mir ("Children's World") department store on Lubyanka Square, and pursuing a number of other projects.

Sistema-Hals has built up a broad and well-balanced portfolio of assets in growing sectors of the market. The company focuses on building Class A and B offices, mixed-use complexes, business-class residential buildings, single-family housing developments and land development.

Cushman & Wakefield valued Sistema-Hals' interest in the properties and projects in its portfolio at USD 2.882 billion as at 1 July 2007.