Media business operations

A professor from the Faculty of Political Science, Rade Veljanovski, says that the system of collection of the TV fee is not present in all European countries, but that it constitutes a dominant form of financing in 90 percent of cases. "There is a certain number of countries that have retained the budget-based form of financing, among them Bulgaria, Spain, Greece... In countries where the TV fee is a primary form of financing it is a legal obligation, but its collection is easier in countries with better living standards. For example, the percentage of successful collection of TV fee is huge. The BBC, which is a public service broadcaster, receives around four billion pounds a year in this way, but they have no right to receive any revenue from commercial advertising nor to broadcast advertisements", says Veljanovski. The president of the Managing Board of ANEM, Sasa Mirkovic, also points out the problem of collection of the TV fee: "For example, while the percentage of successful collection of the TV fee is extremely high in Croatia, Serbia has never truly accepted the practice. If I am not mistaken, the collection percentage in Serbia is around 40 percent".
(Politika, 12.7.2011)

Privatization and the state-owned media

The Central Register of Securities registered yesterday a change in the managing structure of the Novosti company, after the right of the majority owner, Milan Beko, to 2,356 votes had been revoked and his managing rights limited to 25 percent of shares.
(Beta, Danas, Kurir, Politika, 07.07.2011)

A businessman from Belgrade, Milan Beko, cannot sell his shares of the Belgrade media company, Novosti, without an agreement with German company VAC, reports the Beta news agency, because VAC has collateral on the shares of Novosti that have been purchased by three Beko's companies: Ardos, Trimaks and Karamat.
(Politika, Pravda, Dnevnik, 07.07.2011)

The Novosti company may have a new management, Managing Board and editors by the next week, says a well-informed source to the Kurir daily newspaper. The Securities Committee has limited the right to usage of shares owned by Milan Beko and instead of 63 percent, he can now use only 24.99 percent of shares. The state of Serbia, with its 29 percent of shares, has now become the largest shareholder and practically takes over the Novosti company.
(Kurir, 09.07.2011)

The daughter company of VAC, Ost Holding from Vienna, has filed a lawsuit before the Administrative Court of Serbia against the Commission for Protection of Competition. For this reason, the Commission decided to abort the procedure related to their request for approval of acquisition of 62.39 percent of ownership over the Novosti company.
(Pravda, Vecernje Novosti, 15.07.2011)

The Commercial Court in Novi Sad has accepted the appeal filed by Dnevnik Holding and decided to give the company back the founding rights over the Dnevnik newspaper. In accordance with the contract concluded in 2004, Dnevnik Holding – together with the German corporation VAC (the ratio is a 45%:55%) – is a co-owner of the company Dnevnik Vojvodina Press (DVP), which has been publishing Dnevnik, the only daily newspaper in Serbian language in Vojvodina, since then.
(Vecernje Novosti, 15.07.2011)

The Anti-Corruption Council of the Government of Serbia has submitted criminal charges against seven persons involved with privatization of the newspaper Vecernje Novosti. In the words of the President of the Council, Verica Barac, there is a possibility that the number of accused individual will be increased. The criminal charges have been filed before the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade against the former Minister of Economy and Privatization, Predrag Bubalo, a businessman and majority owner of Vecernje Novosti, Milan Beko, the President of the Securities Committee, Milko Stimac, a member of the Committee, Dejan Malinic, Djordje Jovanovic and Dusan Bajec, and the Director of the company NIP Novosti, Manojlo Vukotic.
(Pregled, Kurir, Dnevnik, 13.07.2011, Beta, Danas, Dnevnik, Pregled, Politika, Blic, 15.07.2011)

Issue No. 8
07-20 July 2011

Abbreviations