Mobile TeleSystems : MTS announces appointment of Sofia Mitrofanova as new CEO of MTS Media

MOSCOW, Russia - Mobile TeleSystems Public Joint Stock Company ("MTS" or "the Company") (MOEX: MTSS), a digital ecosystem, announces the appointment of Sofia Mitrofanova as CEO of MTS Media LLC, which brings together MTS's entertainment assets. Elena Balmont, who previously held the post, is leaving the company. The change will take effect on June 11.

Sofia Mitrofanova's track record in the media industry spans more than 15 years. She held the post of CEO of online cinema Premier from 2021 to 2023. From 2020 to 2021, she worked as Communications Director at the Gazprom-Media holding. From 2018 to 2020, she served as General Producer of the online cinema Okko and Chief Content Officer of Rambler Group, and from 2016 to 2018, she was Chief Content Officer of the video service Ivi. From 2012 to 2016, she was Sales Director of The Walt Disney Company CIS and was responsible for VOD deals in Russia and the former Soviet Union. From 2006 to 2011, she headed the Russian office of the Polish media company ITI Group, where she led the launch of the first and only cinema channel broadcasting Soviet and Russian films in Polish, Woina I Pokoj, which won the prestigious Hot Bird Award as best cinema channel.

Elena Balmont oversaw completion of the initial phase of the spin-off, consolidation and internal integration of MTS Media, preserving the unique expertise of each of the services involved. Balmont defined strategic areas and assembled a highly professional team, in conjunction with whom she unlocked synergies between the various services and the MTS digital ecosystem.
"I would like to thank Elena for seeing the asset consolidation process through to completion, on which she worked as a member of the MTS Board of Directors and as CEO of MTS Media LLC over the past year. In her new role, Sofia Mitrofanova will be managing a pool of entertainment media assets, bringing them to a new level and providing leadership at a new stage of development of the media industry in Russia. It's a very interesting challenge. I'm confident that Sofia will rise to it and, leveraging her experience, point the way to new opportunities in the media and entertainment industry for the entire market," said MTS President Vyacheslav Nikolaev.

Elena has more than 20 years' experience in the media industry. She began her career in the industry in 1999 with a job at Television Stations Network CJSC (which later became the STS Media holding), where she worked for over 12 years in various management positions. In 2011-2012, she was Deputy General Director of the company Content Union. And in 2012, she headed Viacom International Media Networks in Russia, the CIS, Ukraine and the Baltics, and also served as a member of the Board of Directors of a joint venture between VIMN and Legacy Media LLC. She has a specialized education in IT security and holds an Executive MBA from the Russian-Belgian programme of Antwerp Management School and the Institute of Business and Business Administration of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.

The management company MTS Media was founded in February 2024 to develop media operations within the MTS digital ecosystem, and it completed the consolidation of the group's entertainment businesses. As part of the consolidation, the new companies MTS Stroki LLC and MTS Label LLC were created for the Stroki and MTS Label services launched by MTS. These companies, as well as MTS's KION LLC (which operates the KION online cinema) and MDTZK LLC (MTS Live), were then made subsidiaries of MTS Media. MTS Music, while technically remaining part of MTS, has also been placed under the control of MTS Media.

About MTS's media assets:
MTS Live runs various projects in the sphere of offline entertainment: the ticketing services MTS Live and Ticketland, concert venues in Moscow and the regions, and production of concert and theatre events. MTS Live was an investor and co-producer of the musical Don't Be Afraid of Anything, I'm With You, which took in box office receipts of more than RUB 3 billion, becoming the most successful theatre event in the country's history.
KION, an online cinema with 8.6 million users, is among the 20 most valuable Russian online companies, according to Forbes. KION offers over 200 TV channels and thousands of films, series, cartoons and documentary projects. Original content is the platform's flagship. KION's projects have received accolades at more than 50 Russian and international film awards. In the 3 years it has been in existence, KION has released over 80 originals, including hits such as Kidney, Reciprocity, Crystal and others.
MTS Music is a music streaming service with an extensive collection of 70 million tracks and a user-friendly interface, which is available to both MTS subscribers and customers of other operators.
Stroki (rus. Строки - Lines) is a reading platform where subscribers can read books, magazines, manga and comics, as well as listen to audiobooks and podcasts. Stroki's own publishing house releases original books every week.
MTS Label supports artists in areas including production, rights management, distribution and marketing. More than 200 artists work with the label, and in the year it has been in existence over 2,000 tracks have been released.

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For further information, please contact in Moscow:
Investor Relations Department
Mobile TeleSystems Public Joint Stock Company
Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

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Mobile TeleSystems Public Joint Stock Company ("MTS" - MOEX: MTSS) is Russia's ecosystem providing network-native digital services and largest mobile operator. The company offers a full range of solutions for consumers and business customers across wireless and wireline connectivity; over-the-top, linear, and satellite television; digital-first banking and financial services; as well as unified communications, cloud computing and IoT. There are more than 86 million mobile subscribers using MTS services across the company's operations in Russia and Belarus, including more than 81 million subscribers in Russia alone. In addition, MTS has a nationwide network of more than 4,400 owned and franchised retail outlets in Russia, and provides nearly 10 million clients with broadband, TV, and/or fixed-line telephone connectivity, over 13 million users - with OTT and pay TV services. The number of ecosystem clients exceeds 15 million. MTS's shares are listed on the Moscow Exchange under the ticker MTSS. For more information, please visit the company's Investor Relations website at ir.mts.ru.