MTS Ranked among the World’s 100 Most Powerful Brands with a Brand Value of $9.7 billion

MTS, the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, today announced that it has been named as one of the BRANDZ™ Top 100 Most Powerful Brands, a ranking published by the Financial Times and Millward Brown, a leading global market research and consulting firm. MTS once again joins the ranks of the most powerful brands in the world with a value of $9.7 billion at the 72nd position. As in 2008 and 2009, MTS is the most valuable Russian brand in the ranking.

BRANDZ™ Top 100 Most Powerful Brands, is a ranking published by the Financial Times and Millward Brown, a leading global market research and consulting firm. MTS brand has recorded the brand value growth of 6% year on year with a value of $9.7 billion as against $9.2 billion valued during last year. The significant growth in brand value over the year is primarily due to the company’s continued execution on its corporate strategy, strong growth and its leadership positions in the Russian & CIS markets and Indian sub continent.

Speaking on the announcement, Mr.Vsevolod Rozanov, CEO, Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd, said, “We are delighted to be among the  top 100 brands in the world and are confident that the ranking will boost our presence in Indian market.” He further added, “Our recognition among the league top 100 brands will further strengthen our association with our customers.”

“Since the launch of the new MTS brand in 2006, we have focused on developing it to become the strongest brand in our markets to reflect our position as the leading telecommunications group in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia,” commented Mikhail Gerchuk, Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of MTS.

“We have since enhanced the MTS brand by bringing it to additional countries of operation and now we are focused on extending it to complementary products and services, like fixed broadband, pay TV as well as content and entertainment services. As more people are becoming MTS customers through a variety of services we offer across multiple markets, we expect our brand to continue growing in value and be recognized as among the most successful globally,” said Mr Gerchuk