Moscow, Russia – August 29, 2008 – “COMSTAR – United TeleSystems” JSC (“Comstar” or “the Group”) (LSE: CMST), the leading integrated telecommunications operator in Russia and the CIS, today announced that Standard & Poor’s Rating Services has raised its long-term corporate credit ratings on Comstar and its subsidiary, MGTS, to “BB” from “BB-“, with a stable outlook. The “ruAA” Russia national scale ratings on Comstar and MGTS were also confirmed.

Sergey Pridantsev, President and Chief Executive Officer of Comstar UTS, commented: “Standard & Poor’s ratings are important indicators of the efficiency of our operations, and attest to the validity and strength of our development strategy in the Russian telecommunications market.”