Moscow, Russia – April 5, 2007 - “COMSTAR – United TeleSystems” JSC (“Comstar”) (LSE: CMST), the leading combined telecommunications operator in Russia and the CIS, today announced that, following the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Telecommunication Investment Joint Stock Company (Svyazinvest) on April 5, 2007, two representatives of Comstar UTS and Sistema were elected to the Board of Directors of Svyazinvest. The appointments of Sergei Shchebetov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Comstar UTS and General Director of ZAO Sistema Telecom, and Anton Abugov, First Vice President, Head of Strategy and Development Complex at Sistema, followed the acquisition of a 25% stake plus one share in Svyazinvest by Comstar UTS in December 2006.

Sergei Shchebetov was born in 1966. Mr. Shchebetov has served as the General Director of ZAO Sistema Telecom since January 2006. He is also the Chairman of the Boards of Directors of Mobile TeleSystems and Sky Link. From April 2005 to December 2005, he held the position of the First Deputy General Director of Sistema Telecom. Previously, from June 2001 he served as the Head of the Corporate Development Department of Sistema. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Shchebetov was the Development Director of Integrum-Techno, an IT company, and, from 1997 to 1999, he served as the Vice President of Corporate Finance Department of ATON Capital Group, an investment company. From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Shchebetov worked as a consultant in McKinsey & Company based in Moscow. Mr. Shchebetov graduated from the Novosibirsk University with a degree in Quantum Optics. He holds MBA from Stanford University.

Anton Abugov was born in 1976. From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Abugov was Managing Director of AKB Rosbank, in charge of its Corporate Finance Department. Prior to joining Rosbank, he was a partner in Eurasia Capital Partners, where he was responsible for investment projects in Eastern European telecoms and Russian petrochemical businesses. From 1997 to 2006, Mr. Abugov served as a strategic adviser to TAIF Group of

Companies. From 1995 to 2002, he worked as the Head of Corporate Finance of UFG (United Financial Group), an investment company. In 1999, he served as an adviser to RAO UES. Mr. Abugov graduated from the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation.

Sergei Shchebetov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Comstar UTS commented: “We are delighted that the representatives of Comstar UTS and Sistema have now joined the Svyazinvest Board of Directors. We look forward to a fruitful cooperation at Board level in order to represent the rights of minority shareholders. We will bring our wide ranging experience to bear by assisting in the further development of the Company’s corporate governance, transparency levels and broader business processes, in order to increase efficiency and optimize Svyazinvest’s considerable potential.”