MTS Appoints New Chief Executive Officer

MOSCOW, March 4, 2011 - Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS" or "the Company" - NYSE: MBT),
the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, today
announced that in accordance with the Company's Charter[1] Mr. Andrei
Dubovskov has been appointed by the MTS Board of Directors ("BoD" or "the
Board") as President and Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") of Mobile
TeleSystems OJSC. Mr. Dubovskov replaces Mr. Mikhail Shamolin, who has served
as President and CEO of MTS since May 2008. Mr. Shamolin's candidacy is
expected to be nominated to the position of President and CEO of Sistema for
approval at tomorrow's Board of Directors meeting of Sistema, the largest
diversified public financial corporation in Russia and the CIS and the
majority shareholder of MTS.

Under Mr. Shamolin's leadership, MTS has transformed itself
from a mobile-only access provider to a fully integrated telecommunications
company. In the past three years, MTS has enhanced its leadership position
through the development of its fixed-line business, the expansion of its
proprietary retail channels, the launch of Russia's first content portal and
rapid development of its network infrastructure. Despite the profound
macroeconomic volatility, Mr. Shamolin's tenure witnessed sustained growth in
the core business and yielded substantial value and returns to shareholders
while maintaining the Company's leadership positions.

Mr. Dubovskov joined MTS in 2004 as head of the Company's
operations in Nizhny Novgorod. In 2006, he went on to become head of
Macro-region Ural. In the beginning of 2008, Mr. Dubovskov became Head of
Business Unit MTS Ukraine, the Company's second largest business unit in
terms of revenues, where he was successful in drastically improving its
operating efficiencies and strengthening its market position.

Mr. Ron Sommer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of MTS,
commented: "We are grateful to Mikhail for the tremendous amount of work he
put in and the results that were achieved under his leadership. He was
instrumental in making MTS into an integrated player through the
implementation of the 3i Strategy. The Board has full confidence that Andrei
will continue Mikhail's undertakings in executing on the strategic priorities
of the Company as it looks to extract further growth from the Russia and CIS
markets of operation. Andrei's wealth of experience in the telecommunications
industry and at MTS itself provides him with the necessary skill set to take
MTS to even greater heights. On behalf of the Board, I welcome Andrei to his
new position."

Mr. Dubovskov commented: "The Board of Directors has afforded
me an extraordinary opportunity, and I am grateful for the opportunity to
represent MTS before its shareholders, employees and customers. I am
committed to MTS' further development as the region's pre-eminent
telecommunications provider and further position MTS for future growth."

Following Mr. Dubovskov's appointment, Mr. Vasyl Latsanych,
the Chief Marketing Director of Business Unit MTS Ukraine, is the acting Head
of Business Unit MTS Ukraine.

Biography

Andrei Dubovskov was born in 1966. He has been the Head of
Business Unit MTS Ukraine since January 2008. He joined MTS Ukraine in
November 2007 as First Deputy of General Director. From 2006 to 2007, he was
the Head of Macro-region Ural. From 2004 to 2006, he was head of MTS branch
in Nizhny Novgorod.

From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Dubovskov headed Tele2's operations in
Nizhny Novgorod. From 1993 onwards, he occupied a number of management
positions in such companies as Millicom International Cellular S.A., Millicom
International Cellular B.V., Regionalnaya Sotovaya Svyaz LLC and CJSC 800, as
well as other companies in Moscow, Alma-Ata, Nizhny Novgorod, Ekaterinburg,
Perm and Kiev.

Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS") is the leading telecommunications group
in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, offering mobile and fixed voice,
broadband, pay TV as well as content and entertainment services in one of the
world's fastest growing regions. Including its subsidiaries, the Group
services over 108.3 million mobile subscribers in Russia, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Belarus, a region that boasts a total
population of more than 230 million. Since June 2000, MTS' Level 3 ADRs have
been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol MBT). Additional
information about the MTS Group can be found at www.mtsgsm.com.

Some of the information in this press release may contain
projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or
the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor
provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You
can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect," "believe,"
"anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "will," "could," "may" or "might," and
the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution
you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or
results may differ materially. We do not undertake or intend to update these
statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date
hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to
the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, specifically the Company's most recent Form 20-F. These
documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained
in the section captioned "Risk Factors" that could cause the actual results
to differ materially from those contained in our projections or
forward-looking statements, including, among others, the severity and
duration of current economic and financial conditions, including volatility
in interest and exchange rates, commodity and equity prices and the value of
financial assets; the impact of Russian, U.S. and other foreign government
programs to restore liquidity and stimulate national and global economies,
our ability to maintain our current credit rating and the impact on our
funding costs and competitive position if we do not do so, strategic actions,
including acquisitions and dispositions and our success in integrating
acquired businesses, including Comstar-UTS, potential fluctuations in
quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service
development and tariff structures, rapid technological and market change,
acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications
infrastructure, governmental regulation of the telecommunications industries
and other risks associated with operating in Russia and the CIS, volatility
of stock price, financial risk management and future growth subject to risks.

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[1] The Company's charter is available at
www.mtsgsm.com/information/corporate_governance/charter.

    For further information, please contact in Moscow:

    Joshua B. Tulgan
    Director, Investor Relations
    Acting Director, Corporate Finance
    Department of Investor Relations
    Mobile TeleSystems OJSC
    Tel: +7-495-223-2025
    E-mail: ir@mts.ru

Learn more about MTS. Visit the official blog of the Investor Relations
Department at www.mtsgsm.com/blog/

For further information, please contact in Moscow: Joshua B. Tulgan, Director, Investor Relations, Acting Director, Corporate Finance, Department of Investor Relations, Mobile TeleSystems OJSC, Tel: +7-495-223-2025, E-mail: ir at mts.ru