Moscow, Russian Federation – Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (“MTS” – NYSE: MBT), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, announces the decisions reached at the Board of Directors meeting held on May 20, 2010, on the recommended amount of dividend and the list of nominees for election to the Company’s Board.

MTS’ Board of Directors (BoD) recommended the annual general meeting of shareholders (AGM) approve annual dividends of RUB 15.40¹ per ordinary MTS share (approximately $1.00 per ADR²) for the 2009 fiscal year, amounting to a total of RUB 30.70 billion (approximately $999.3 million or 99% of US GAAP net income or 75% of US GAAP net income adjusted for the non-cash impairment charges). The dividend will be paid out in full prior to the year’s end in accordance with the MTS Charter.

Mr. Ron Sommer, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of MTS, highlighted: “The Board’s dividend recommendation is reflective of MTS’ sustained levels of profitability and the Company’s ability to generate healthy cash flows despite macroeconomic volatility in its markets of operation during 2009. Though the net income has been affected by non-cash write offs and currency fluctuations, the proposed dividend is broadly in line with previous dividend recommendations in absolute terms and is fully supportive of MTS’ dividend policy³.”

It should be noted that the Company’s American Depositary Receipt (ADR) ratio was changed from the previous 1 ADR per 5 common shares to 1 ADR per 2 common shares effective May 3, 2010. The per ADR dividend amount cited above is reflective of that change.

As was announced earlier, the record date for the Company’s share- and ADR-holders entitled to participate in the AGM and to receive dividends was May 7, 2010. The AGM will be held on June 24, 2010. At the meeting, the Company’s BoD also nominated a total of nine members for election to the Board. The candidate list includes:

- Mr. Anton Abugov, First Vice President, Head of Strategy and Development functional division, Sistema;

- Mr. Alexey Buyanov, Senior Vice President, Head of the Financial functional division, Sistema;

- Mr. Sergei Drozdov, Senior Vice President, Head of the Property functional division, Sistema;

- Mr. Charles Dunstone, independent candidate;

- Mr. Stanley Miller, independent candidate;

- Mr. Paul Ostling, independent candidate;

- Mr. Mikhail Shamolin, President and CEO of MTS;

- Mr. Ron Sommer, First Vice President, Head of the Telecommunications assets operating unit, Sistema;

- Ms. Tatiana Yevtoushenkova, Advisor to the President of Sberbank.

The new directors will be elected after the decision of the Company’s AGM on June 24, 2010.

¹ The dividend yield per share is 5.1%.
² According to the Russian Central Bank exchange rate of 30.7193 RUB/USD as of May 11, 2010. The dividend amount is set in Russian rubles by the Board of Directors; U.S. dollar amounts provided for reference using the foreign exchange rates as of May 11, 2010.
³ Information on the dividend policy can be found at https://www.mtsgsm.com/information/dividends