Mobile Telesystems increased its holding in MTS Bank to 95%.

Mobile Telesystems, the leading telecommunications operator and digital service provider in Russia, increased its holding in MTS Bank, one of the 50 largest banks in Russia, to 95%. The company bought a 39.48% stake from Sistema. Alexey Kornya, President and CEO of MTS, commented: "Bringing MTS Bank under the control of MTS is a natural step in re-enforcing our position on the Russian FinTech market. This acquisition allows us to fully integrate our FinTech business, resulting in positive synergies and fulfilling our financial services strategy to create a single ecosystem of digital services for our customers. As a result of close integration with MTS, the bank has returned to its profitability in 2017 and is now on the way to sustainable growth. Preliminary 2018 results suggest that MTS Bank performed even better last year, with both operational and financial indicators showing further improvement.”