Russia MTS seeks watchdog approval to buy Comstar

MOSCOW, May 22 (Reuters) - MTS (MBT.N), Russia's top mobile phone operator, said on Friday it had applied for anti-monopoly office approval to buy up to 100 percent of fixed-line provider Comstar (CMSTq.L).

MTS said in a statement it had yet to make a final decision on the size and structure of the deal.

MTS and Comstar are both controlled by services conglomerate Sistema (SSAq.L), which is widely expected to merge the two telecom operators into one universal telecom group. (Reporting by Anastasia Teterevleva; writing by Maria Kiselyova; editing by Alfred Kueppers)