The rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has given SISTEMA JSFC the long-term credit ratings in national and foreign currencies on the “B-“ level. The prediction category is “stable”.

Analysts with S&P point out that, above all, the quality of assets in the telecommunications sector and increase of their value have positive influence on the holding’s credit ratings. The liquid telecommunications assets of SISTEMA JSFC secure a satisfactory level of debt settlement. By estimates of S&P, the management of SISTEMA JSFC showed its capacity to actively participate in developing the telecommunications and other business directions in partnership with foreign investors.

The leadership of SISTEMA JSFC stresses that the company intends to continue its efforts to increase the capitalization and promote investors’ confidence.

At present, SISTEMA JSFC owns and manages over 200 enterprises in different sectors of the economy, including: telecommunications (MTS, MGTS, MTU-Inform, Telmos, Comstar and a number of other telecommunications companies), electronics (NIME and MIKRON plant as well as a number of microelectronics enterprises), insurance (ROSNO), radio engineering (The academician A.L. Mints radio technical institute, NPK NIDAR and others), real estate and construction (SISTEMA-HALS),oil and oil products (UIC NEDRA, FIC KEDR-M), retail (Detsky Mir trading house), finances and securities (MBRD JSCB), mass media (newspapers Rossia, Smena, Metro,Literaturnaya gazeta, Rosbalt agency, Maxima communication group), tourism (Intourist), sports (Olympiyskaya sistema), medicine (MTH medical technological holding).

Among companies of SISTEMA JSFC the long-term credit ratings of S&P were given to MGTS JSC (?-/Stable/) and MTS JSC (?+/Stable/). In August 2002 the rating agency Fitch gave the international credit rating toMBRD JSCB (the short-term rating on the “?” level and the long-term one on the “?-“level).