MOSCOW. Dec 7 (Interfax) - Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has signed an agreement with Canadian export agency Export Development Canada (EDC) on a credit line totaling $165 million, the Russian mobile operator said in a statement.
The loan interest rate is LIBOR+4.5% semiannually. The funds will be used to finance equipment deliveries within one year of the signing date.
Deliveries of cellular devices from Alcatel-Lucent Nokia-Siemens, and Ericsson will be financed if the need arises.
MTS is the biggest Russian and CIS cellular provider by subscribers, with more than 100 million customers in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Belarus.
MTS closed the acquisition of 50.91% of fixed-line provider Comstar UTS from the Sistema holding for $1.272 billion in October. Sistema is the biggest shareholder in MTS.