Armenian Habitat & Fuller Center for Housing Armenia
Yerevan 0033,
Baghramyan str. 3rd lane, house 10a
Tel: (+374 10) 271 499

VivaCell participated in the homeblessing ceremony of the Aslanyan family
Thanks to VivaCell support, in 2008 in 8 regional communities of Armenia, 15
houses will be built for the families in need.

July 8, 2008, Yerevan, Armenia – VivaCell, a subsidiary of Mobile
TeleSystems OJSC (NYSE: MBT)) announces that on July 8th, 2008, at 11:00 am
the company General Manager will participate in the homeblessing ceremony
of the Aslanyan family house, which is the first out of 15 houses sponsored
by the company this year. An international volunteer team from New Jersey
who have arrived with the Global Builders Program of Fuller Center for
Housing will also participate in homeblessing event. The ceremony will be
held by priest Der Dajad Davidian.

The Aslanyans in one of the families who have chosen the hard way of coming
back to homeland. In 2000 leaving their birthplace Javakhk, Melikset and
Yelena came to Armenia with their 3 children to build their new home in
their historical homeland. In 2002 they bought land in the village of Arinj
and started constructing their own house. But because of construction
material prices getting higher and having to pay for their children’s
education, for more than 5 years they couldn’t finish the construction of
their house and had to rent a flat.

Thanks to VivaCell and Armenian Habitat the family at last had the
opportunity to finish their home and have own corner in their homeland.

Back in 2007 thanks to VivaCell 10 families had an opportunity to move to
their simple, decent and affordable houses before the Armenian freezing
winter started and to meet the New Year with rebuilt hope and new dreams.

This year also, in line with its CSR commitment, VivaCell will help 15 more
families in 8 communities of Armenia to complete their half-built houses and
escape from the claws of poverty housing in the regions. Currently these
families live in metal containers, unfinished houses, in houses in emergency
conditions or in rented houses.

VivaCell constantly supports the needy families of Armenia.

Fuller Center for Housing and Armenian Habitat

Fuller Center for Housing and Armenian Habitat are working to eliminate
poverty housing by providing long term, interest free loans and by assisting
with the volunteer work helping low-income families to build simple,
sustainable, affordable houses and renovate their houses. For more
information, please visit

VivaCell

VivaCell (K-Telecom CJSC) is the leading Armenian mobile operator, providing
a wide range of Voice and Data services. Since its launch on 1st July 2005,
in a short period of time VivaCell has managed to build a nationwide network
and a considerable customer base. VivaCell drives the development and
offering of innovative mobile communications products, services and features
in the Armenian mobile communications market. For more information, visit

Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (<MTS>) is the largest mobile phone operator in
Russia and the CIS. Together with its subsidiaries, the Company services
over 85.68 million subscribers. The regions of Russia, as well as Armenia,
Belarus, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, in which MTS and its
associates and subsidiaries are licensed to provide GSM services, have 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 MTS can be found at