Facebook has launched a joint project with Russian mobile operators on free access to its website via cell phones, the head of Facebook Mobile said on Thursday.

Henri Moissinac told a news conference the Facebook Zero project was aimed at cooperating with mobile operators, whose customers will have free access to the Facebook mobile version.

The global social network company has already signed contracts with the Russian mobile operators Beeline and MTS.

Last week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said the social network's team would make special efforts to gain an audience in countries where it traditionally had not enjoyed great popularity. Among these countries are Russia, Japan, China and South Korea.

According to TNS Web Index, produced by the leading international research company TNS Gallup Media, Facebook has 1 million users in Russia, while its main competitor, the Russian social network VKontakte, already has over 75 million users.

MOSCOW, July 1 (RIA Novosti)