TEAM TO HEAD METRO HELSINKI APPOINTED Lars Schröder, currently head of the Swedish Trade Council in Helsinki, has accepted the post of president of the newspaper Metro in Helsinki. The editor in chief will be Mikko Heino, who has served in the same capacity on the free newspaper Uutislehti 100. The Finnish-language version of Metro in Helsinki will commence publication on September 7. The newspaper will be distributed in the subway and on commuter train lines, streetcars, and buses. Lars Schröder has headed the Helsinki office of the Swedish Trade Council since 1993. Before that, he worked for an office supply wholesaler as sales manager. During most of the 1980s, Schröder worked for IBM, advancing to the position of manager for sales to the public sector in Finland. Mikko Heino has headed Uutislehti 100, which is owned by Janton Oy, since it began publication in April 1997. Metro's contract with the Helsinki mass transit authority entails Janton Oy no longer being allowed to distribute its free paper on public transportation. Metro's head of sales will be Jaana Juska, who most recently held a similar position at the radio stations Radio City and Kiss FM in Helsinki, both owned by SBS. She has worked at Radio City since 1994. Metro Helsinki is part of the Publishing business area of Modern Times Group MTG AB. The area includes the Metro newspapers in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö (which will start publication this autumn) as well as the financial daily Finanstidningen. Metro in Prague, Budapest, and the Netherlands are part of the Metro International business area, which was formed at the end of 1998. The area also includes Metro Europe, which has been published in English in Helsinki since June 1999, to coincide with the Finnish presidency of the European Union. Two new editions of Metro, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Santiago, Chile, will also be part of the Metro International business area. For additional information, please contact H.C. Ejemyr, head of MTG's Publishing business area, at +46-8-5620 0050. Modern Times Group MTG AB is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's O list (symbol: MTG) and on the Nasdaq National Market in New York (symbol: MTGNY). ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/08/18/19990818BIT00670/bit0001.pdf http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/08/18/19990818BIT00670/bit0002.doc