Moscow, Russian Federation – PJSC MTS (NYSE: MBT, MOEX: MTSS), the leading telecommunications operator and digital service provider in Russia, announces the acquisition of a 39.48% stake in MTS Bank, one of the 50 largest banks in Russia.

Under the terms of the transaction, MTS’s wholly-owned subsidiary Mobile TeleSystems B.V. acquired a stake in MTS Bank from Sistema PJSFC (LSE: SSA, MOEX: AFKS), the largest diversified public financial corporation in Russia and the CIS and the majority shareholder of MTS, for RUB 11.4 bln. As a result of the deal, MTS’s share in MTS Bank increased from 55.24% to 94.72%. Sistema’s direct ownership in MTS Bank decreased to 5.00%, while the balance of shares are held by other shareholders.

Alexey Kornya, President and CEO of MTS, commented:
"Bringing MTS Bank under the control of MTS is a natural step in re-enforcing our position on the Russian FinTech market. This acquisition allows us to fully integrate our FinTech business, resulting in positive synergies and fulfilling our financial services strategy to create a single ecosystem of digital services for our customers. As a result of close integration with MTS, the bank has returned to its profitability in 2017 and is now on the way to sustainable growth. Preliminary 2018 results suggest that MTS Bank performed even better last year, with both operational and financial indicators showing further improvement.”

All necessary regulatory and corporate approvals have been received. The approval by the MTS Board of Directors was based on the recommendation of the Special Committee to the Board of Directors.

Key milestones of integration of MTS and MTS Bank

• In August 2011, MTS, in partnership with MTS Bank (at that time known as MBRD) launched MTS Dengi (MTS Money), a project aimed at providing customers throughout Russia with payment tools, including credit cards, near-field communications-enabled SIM cards and PoS (point-of-sale) credit.
• In February 2012, MBRD, as part of a broad strategic commercial agreement, rebranded itself as MTS Bank and adopted the look and feel of MTS's internationally recognized brand.
• In March 2013, MTS acquired a blocking stake in MTS Bank through additional share issuance.
• In July 2018, MTS acquired a 28.63% stake in MTS Bank from Sistema for RUB 8.3 bln, increasing its total stake to 55.24%.

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For further information, please contact in Moscow:

Investor Relations Department
Mobile TeleSystems PJSC
Tel: +7 495 223 2025
E-mail: ir@mts.ru