Russian mobile phone operator MTS quits Uzbekistan

Russia's biggest mobile phone operator MTS has sold its 50 percent stake in Uzbekistan telecommunications operator Universal Mobile Systems (UMS) to its joint venture partner, it said on Friday. MTS has been under scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a broader investigation into telecom firms' operations in Uzbekistan. "Due to a variety of business reasons and other circumstances, MTS decided to sell its stake in the joint venture UMS