METRO GOT DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT IN ROME Modern Times Group MTG AB announced today that the newspaper company Metro International has signed a distribution contract for Rome, Italy. This further strengthens Metros presence in Europe where the paper was launched in Zurich, Switzerland, and Newcastle, United Kingdom earlier this year. This confirms that the fast-paced international expansion of Metro continues. In Rome, Metro has signed a distribution contract with the municipal transport organization Cotral, who operates the subway and the commuter railway in Rome and suburbs. The distribution agreement makes Metro available in the public transportation system in Rome, with 240 million riders in the subways in 1999, and 35 million in the commuter railway system. Fabrizio Paladini has been appointed editor-in-chief. He is currently serving as news editor at Il Messaggero in Rome. Metro was the first free daily newspaper financed entirely by advertising revenue published to commuters in Stockholm in 1995. Two years later, the first foreign edition was published in Prague. In 1998, local editions were added in Budapest and Gothenburg, Sweden. Last year, Metro was introduced in the Netherlands, in Helsinki, and in Malmö, Sweden. This year the paper has been launched in Santiago, Chile and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States, the first editions outside Europe, and in Newcastle, UK and in Zurich, Switzerland. As of yesterday it was announced that the Board of Directors of Modern Times Group MTG AB has voted to propose the annual meeting of shareholders scheduled for May 25, that all shares in Metro International SA be distributed to the shareholders of MTG. Metro International SA includes Metro in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, in Helsinki, Prague, Budapest, the Netherlands, Newcastle, Zurich, Santiago, and Philadelphia, as well as the contract for Rome. For further information, call Jens Torpe, senior vice president, Metro International, telephone +44 171 408 02 30. Modern Times Group MTG AB is listed on the OM Stockholm 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/2000/04/19/20000419BIT01160/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/04/19/20000419BIT01160/bit0002.pdf