(Adds details of the proposal, MTS's comments)

       MOSCOW, April 27 (Reuters) - Russia's largest mobile

operator MTS MTSS.MM proposed a share buyback to foreign

shareholders at a discount of around 69% on Saturday, giving

Western investors whose securities are blocked in Russia the

chance to recoup some stranded funds.

    MTS has launched a tender offer to purchase up to 83,932,026

shares and plans to spend up to 7.97 billion roubles of its own

funds to finance the share acquisition, MTS said.

    The purchase price was set at 95 roubles per share, which

was 69% lower than yesterday's closing price on the Moscow

Exchange.

        Buyback parameters had been already approved by a

Russian government commission. The deadline for shareholders to

accept the offer is midday, Moscow time, on May 28 2024.

        The offer is aimed primarily at non-resident

shareholders who are currently unable to buy or sell the

company’s shares, MTS said.

        "The share buyback will be financed by MTS's own funds

and will not affect MTS's dividend policy or plans to pay out

dividends," the company said.

    The proposal mirrors one made by retailer Magnit MGNT.MM

in 2023, which saw it successfully complete a buyback worth

around $736 million. The Kremlin demands a discount of at least

50% on any asset sales involving foreigners.    

    Magnit's offer represented the first opportunity for

non-resident shareholders of a Russian public company to dispose

of their shareholdings with settlement in different currencies

since the West imposed sweeping sanctions over the war in

Ukraine and subsequent Russian countermeasures restricted the

flow of capital.

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Gleb Stolyarov

Editing by Andrew Osborn)