Moscow, Russian Federation – March 24, 2003 – Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (“MTS” - NYSE: MBT), the largest mobile phone operator in Russiaand Central and Eastern Europe, today announced a decision by its board of directors to applyfor a listing ofthe Company’s shares in Russia.

According to the decision, MTS will take all necessary steps, to the extentrequired under Russian legislation, to obtainas soon as practicable but no later than September 30, 2003 a listing of MTS’ shares on a Russian stock exchange in relation to the recently announced intention of T-Mobile International AG to conduct an equity market offering of five percent of MTS’ shares.

MTS will also assist T-Mobile and JPMorgan Chase Bank, a depositary for MTS’ ADR program, in obtaining any consent, approval, authorization or registration of or with any governmental authority in the Russian Federation in relation to such offering which may be required under Russian law.

MTS shares are currently traded in the form of ADRs on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).  However, there is no trading or listing of MTS’ shares on Russia's popular bourses, such as RTS or MICEX.  MTS’ board of directors and management believe that such listing of the Company’s shares may increase the liquidity inMTS’ stock.

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Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (or "MTS") is the largest cellular operator in Russia, and Central and Eastern Europe.  Together with its subsidiaries, the company services over nine million subscribers. MTS and its subsidiaries are licensed to provide GSM services in 57 regions of Russia, in Belarus and Ukraine with a total population of approximately 165.7 million. MTS currently operates a service in 47 regions of Central (including Moscow and Moscow region), Northwestern (including St Petersburg and Leningrad region), Southern, Volga, Urals, Siberia and Far-Eastern federal districts of the Russian Federation. Since June 2000, MTS' shares have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol MBT. Additional information about MTS can be found on MTS' website at www.mtsgsm.com

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Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “will,” “could,” “may” or “might” the negative of such terms or other similar expressions.  We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically, the Company’s most recent Form 20-F, as amended. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors," that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service development and tariff structures; rapid technological and market change, acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, risks associated with operating in Russia, volatility of stock price, financial risk management, and future growth subject to risks.

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For further information contact:

Mobile TeleSystems, Moscow

Investor Relations                                                                        tel: +7095 911 6553

Andrey Braginski                                                                        e-mail: ir@mts.ru

Press Secretary                                                                        tel.: +7095 737 4530

Eva Prokofieva                                                                      e-mail: evp@mts.ru

Gavin Anderson & Company, London

Halldor Larusson / Yolande Stratford                                                    tel: +44 (0) 20 7554 1400