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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 9, No. 121, Part I, 27 June 2005: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Russia's Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) plan to invest a total of $80 million into Uzbekistan's cellular phone industry, "Biznes Vestnik Vostoka" and UzReport.com reported on 23 June. The EBRD has signed an agreement to provide Greece's Germanos SA, the owner of second-place Uzbek cellular provider Unitel, with a $30 million loan, "Biznes Vestnik Vostoka" reported. The EBRD owns a 7-percent stake in Unitel, which has 106,000 subscribers, or roughly 25 percent of the market in Uzbekistan. And UzReport.com quoted Vasilii Sidorov, the president of Russian cellular provider MTS, as saying that MTS plans to invest $50 million into extending networks and improving service in Uzbekistan. MTS purchased a controlling stake in leading Uzbek operator Uzdunrobita in 2004 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 July 2004). DK