Companies@UA: База компаний Украины

Moscow, July 30 (Interfax) - Russia's Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) saw net profit under Russian accounting standards (RAS) decline 40% to 14.837 billion rubles in the first half of 2009 from 24.368 billion rubles in the same period of 2008, the company said in a statement.

Net profit totaled 16.988 billion rubles in the second quarter of 2009 versus 12.649 billion rubles in April-June 2008. MTS posted net losses of 2.151 billion rubles in the first quarter of 2009.

The company managed to boost net profit in the second quarter compared to the first "as a result of the impact of positive exchange rate disparities from a decline in the exchange rates of the currencies used for loans and borrowings in addition to accounts payable in foreign currency," the statement says.

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%.