Still no answer from Serbia’s Commission to Telekom-Telenor deal; Others react

Tanjug/Zoran Žestić

Serbia's Commission for Protection of Competition has not decided yet about its jurisdiction over the Telekom Srbija – Telenor agreement, but some local and international organisations warned on Tuesday the deal would enlarge the existing state monopoly in the media sphere.

However, there was no word from Telekom Srbija on Tuesday and no answer to N1’s request for an interview with the company’s director Vladimir Lucic who said all operators would get the same offer from his company.

That hasn’t happened although Telenor’s agreement was secretly concluded last December.
The Commission told N1 it had not decided yet, because „the question which relates to the issue of the Commission’s jurisdiction seeks a complete analysis of the given material, then the consultations and cooperation with other institutions and organisations and bodies.“

On the other hand, the international Visegrad Insight organisation‘s report said that Czech billionaire Petr Kelner’s PPF targeted Serbia’s telecommunications market to align its business operations with the government interests.

The report added the Telekom – Telenor contract with an open intent to push SBB out of the market and drew attention in Slovenia where PPF Group controlled over crucial media.

The Independent Association of Serbia’s Journalists (NUNS) President Zeljko Bodrozic warned that Telekom „already interferes into the media sphere although the law bans it and de facto runs several cable TV stations, what is unacceptable. What concerns us is that the current Telenor owner, a Czech businessman, has shown he knows how to endanger media freedom in the Czech Republic and Slovenia. That sends us a signal that all working groups we are taking part in are just a cover for the European Union and Serbia’s alleged accession process. All those documents are a dead letter.“