Companies@UA: База компаний Украины

Moscow. July 28 (Interfax) - Russia's Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) placed 15 billion rubles in fifth-series bonds on the MICEX Stock Exchange on Tuesday, the company said in a statement.

The rate of the first coupon was set at 14.25% at an auction on Friday.

The organizers of the issue are Gazprombank and VTB Capital.  The bonds will circulate for seven years and pay semi-annual coupons. The rates of the second and third coupons are equal to that of the first at 14.25%.

A three-year offer will be called on the issue.

The funds raised from the issue will be earmarked for general corporate purposes, including capex and refinancing current debts. This will allow the company to optimize its debt structure.

MTS had total debt of $4 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2009 and net debt of $3 billion. Of that amount, $1.105 billion must be repaid this year. The company said 71% of its debt was denominated in dollars, 10% in euros and 19% in rubles.

MTS is the largest mobile operator in Russia and the CIS by subscriber numbers. It serves over 95 million subscribers in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Belarus.

AFK Sistema owns 52.8% of the company's shares, while 41.3% are in circulation on the New York Stock Exchange, European OTC markets and Russian markets. MTS board members and management own less than 1%.