OREANDA-NEWS. December 30, 2013. Sistema JSFC ("Sistema") (LSE: SSA), the largest publicly-traded diversified holding company in Russia and the CIS, announces that its wholly owned subsidiary Sistema Finance SA has acquired 6,730,360 of MTS ordinary shares, representing 0.3% of charter capital, on the open market between the period of   December 3 and December 18, 2013 for a total consideration of approximately USD 64 million.

As a result, Sistema's effective shareholding in MTS has increased to 53.47%[1]. MTS shares were purchased for general corporate purposes.

[1] Voting stake is 55.2%  

Sistema is the largest publicly-traded diversified holding company in Russia and the CIS, which invests in and is a major shareholder of companies serving over 100 million customers in the sectors of telecommunications, high technology, oil and energy, radars and aerospace, banking, retail, mass-media, tourism and healthcare services.

Founded in 1993, the Company reported revenues of USD 9.3 billion for the third quarter of 2013, and total assets of USD 44.4 billion as at September 30, 2013. Sistema's global depository receipts are listed under the symbol "SSA" on the London Stock Exchange. Sistema's ordinary shares are listed under the symbol "AFKS" on the MICEX-RTS Stock Exchange. Sistema was ranked number 315 in the 2012 edition of the Fortune Global 500 list. Website: www.sistema.com