OREANDA-NEWS. August 13, 2007. “COMSTAR – United TeleSystems” JSC (“Comstar”) (LSE: CMST) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Sochitelecomservice, an alternative telecommunications operator in the Russian city of Sochi, for a total cash consideration of US$ 0.75 million.

Founded in 2003, Sochitelecomservice provides fixed-line telephony services, Internet access and line leasing to corporate customers in Sochi. The Company’s customers include large regional companies, as well as the representative offices of national companies such as OJSC Lazurnaya, Sheksna resort, the Savings Bank of the Russian Federation (Sberbank) and Vneshtorgbank. Sochitelecomservice reported RAS revenues of US$ 0.4 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2006. The number capacity of Comstar’s Southern Branch will increase by 45% to a total of 16,000 telephone numbers as a result of the acquisition.
Sergey Pridantsev, President and CEO of Comstar UTS, commented: “The acquisition of Sochitelecomservice reflects our strategy to establish market leading positions for Comstar’s regional alternative operator subsidiaries. Comstar’s Southern Branch will now become the largest alternative operator in Sochi. This acquisition will both strengthen our local market position and increase profitability. We will integrate Sochitelecomservice into our Southern Branch, which serves the Sochi representative offices of our Moscow based customers.  The combination of the businesses will also accelerate the development of our broadband network and enhance the provision of services in cooperation with our sister Sistema Group companies for projects relating to the XXII Olympic Winter Games to be held in Sochi in 2014.”