Moscow, Russian Federation — Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (‚MTS‘ — NYSE: MBT), the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and the CIS, announces that it has won the 2009 Meffys Mobile Entertainment Award in the ‚Search & Discovery‘ category for the MTS Super Search product.

MTS became the first Russian company ever to win a Meffys award, one of the most prestigious global mobile entertainment accolades, demonstrating the Company’s leadership in the field of valued-added services.

MTS Super Search is the first advanced search solution that was launched in Russia in 2008. The Company partnered with Yandex, Russia’s leading Internet search engine, to develop a product specifically tailored for mobile phone users. MTS Super Search incorporates a high degree of customization, including phone model identification, conversion of ‚heavy‘ Internet content into a ‚light‘ WAP version, automatic conversion from Latin to Cyrillic and an integrated search on both the Internet and the MTS WAP portal.

Mikhail Gerchuk, Chief Commercial Officer of MTS, commented: ‚We are honored to be recognized among the leading global innovators in mobile entertainment solutions and to be the first Russian company to win. The award is also an affirmation of our leadership in the dynamic value-added services market in Russia. Mobile content and data services are central to our Company’s future growth, and we aim to continue to bring the most innovative solutions to subscribers in our markets of operation.‘

Other companies nominated in the ‚Search & Discovery‘ category of 2009 Meffys were Handmark, SurfKitchen, Telecom Italia and uLocate. Companies from over 60 countries participated in the 2009 Meffys Mobile Entertainment Awards, and the winners were announced in London at a gala dinner on June 23, 2009.

About Meffys and the Mobile Entertainment Forum

Meffys Mobile Entertainment Awards are organized by the Mobile Entertainment Forum. The Forum was formed in 2000 to represent companies throughout the entire mobile entertainment value chain. It is the global trade association for the mobile media industry and takes a proactive role in thought leadership, best practice initiatives, regulatory policy and the sharing of knowledge to deliver competitive advantage to its diverse membership.