Media business operations

Employees of TV Avala have been striking for 50 days and one gets the impression that everyone else is pretty satisfied, writes the newspaper Politika. Independent bodies, the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA), and the Republic Agency for Electronic Communication (RATEL) have collected their fees and claims. The owners of the station paid the employees one and a half of the remaining unpaid salaries at the last moment, on January 31, laughing all the way to the bank because the programme is being aired without live news but with advertisements. At the same time, one hundred journalists, cameramen and other employees of the national station still feel cheated.
(Politika, UNS, NUNS, 09.02.2012)

At a press conference dedicated to the strike of employees of TV Avala because of unpaid salaries, the president of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) and the president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) jointly pointed out that the prosecutor and the financial police were obliged to investigate the case. The representatives of the journalistic associations emphasized their dissatisfaction with the behavior of the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) towards TV Avala. The former editor-in-chief of TV Avala, Robert Nemecek, who held the editorial position two years ago, said that at the time the total debt of the station had amounted to around four million euros, while today's debt is estimated at 30 million euros. "RRA treats the affair as a case closed, while the Ministry of Culture and Information has not acted in any way, except to shift responsibility to RRA", said the representative of employees.
(RTV online, B92, NUNS, UNS, 14.02.2012)

Zeljko Mitrovic has accused Robert Nemecek of getting back at him because Mitrovic prevented him from "stealing and abusing his position in TV Avala". The owner of TV Pink and a co-owner of TV Avala says: "We will file criminal charges against Robert Nemecek for libel and abuse of his position, as well as for purchase of licensing without approval of the Managing Board".
(Telegraf online, UNS, 14.02.2012)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) warns that new, higher SOKOJ copyright tariffs threaten the survival of the electronic media. UNS says that the decision of the Administrative Court to reject the complaint filed by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) – which demanded reconsideration and annulment of the decision of the Committee on Copyright and Related Rights – has resulted in confirmation of the several-time increase of SOKOJ fees for broadcasters.
(Kurir, Dnevnik, 01.02.2012)

The best-rated stations from Vojvodina, like Radio Dunav from Apatin, Radio AS, Radio 021 and Radio Sajam, as well as local and regional stations like Radio Becej and Radio Srbobran, are determined to fight for their survival. All of the stations will broadcast a call to the authorities to end the arbitrary behavior of SOKOJ. In seven days a meeting of all broadcasters from Vojvodina will be held in Novi Sad, where they are supposed to agree on a joint protest of local and regional broadcasters of Serbia in front of the SOKOJ building. Before the protest, a press conference will be held and an open letter sent to the Government of Serbia and all relevant ministries.
(UNS, 01.02.2012)

Implementation of the new SOKOJ tariffs approved by the Committee on Copyright and Related Rights could result in closure of local radio and television stations – says the association of independent local media outlets, Local Press. According to the association, the Committee on Copyright and Related Rights has inflicted great damage on broadcasters by accepting SOKOJ's proposed tariff list which, aside from specifying the fees in the range of 2.5-4.5 percent of gross revenue, also stipulates introduction of a so-called minimal fee for broadcasters.
(Lokal press, Tanjug, Pregled, NUNS, 03.02.2012)

The Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina supports radio and television stations protesting against the new fees of SOKOJ, which are 300-700 percent larger than the current fees and the minimal fee.
(Blic-Vojvodina, Pravda, 04.02.2012)

The electronic media in Subotica have announced that they will send a protest letter against the new copyright fees of SOKOJ (which are now 3-7 times larger) to the committee of the Government of the Republic of Serbia which has approved the new fees.
(Vecernje Novosti, Danas, 04.02.2012)

ANEM and SOKOJ will renew negotiations about the amount of copyright fees, ANEM says.
(e-kapija, 07.02.2012)

Legal proceedings are ongoing before the Primary Court in Cacak with the aim to establish the validity of documents presented by Radio-Television of Serbia (RTS) in order to collect the TV fee owed by 300 citizens of Cacak. Lawyers point out that the citizens have no reason to worry since any judgment in favor of RTS would be easy to appeal and annul because the claims are long expired.
(Blic-Srbija, 01.02.2012)

The acting director of Magyar Szo, Djeze Bordas, says that the company, which was suffering losses until two years ago, ended the last year with around 11 million dinars of profit. The National Council of Hungarians will reestablish managing boards in all institutions which it has founded or co-founded.
(Magyar szo, NDNV, 15.02.2012)

After its remaining equipment were been confiscated on the basis of court verdicts related to unpaid salaries of three former cameramen and content editors, TV Valjevo has now been removed from cable networks. The local TV station, whose privatization was annulled in March of the last year, is facing bankruptcy as of 24 February. At the moment, there is only one legal television station in Valjevo – the regional VTV, while cable programme is broadcast by stations Mars and Link. TV Cronik airs a terrestrial signal.
(Blic–Srbija, NUNS, UNS, Pregled, Politika, 14.02.2012)

Privatization and state-owned media

Employees of the weekly magazine Svetlost from Kragujevac have suspended the strike that began a year ago because of unpaid salaries, author fees and contributions. The president of the trade union of journalists working for the magazine, Srdja Rihterovic, said that the employees had suspended the strike as a sign of good will and that they expected that problems will be solved after the annulment of bad privatization. "After the annulment of the contract on privatization in November of the last year, a representative of the state capital has been appointed in Svetlost in mid-January. He is tasked with performing an analysis of the financial situation and proposing a solution to the crisis to the Privatization Agency".
(Beta, Pregled, Pravda, UNS, 10.02.2012)

The media group WAZ is negotiating with various interested parties about the sale of its ownership shares in Serbia, says Paul Binder, the director in charge of corporate communication. "Our decision to leave the Serbian market is final and there have been no changes in our strategy." WAZ has ownership shares in three daily newspapers in Serbia – Politika, Vecernje Novosti and Dnevnik from Novi Sad. At the beginning of the year, the media company sold three of its newspapers in Macedonia, as well as some of its major newspapers in Romania and Bulgaria.
(Blic, e-kapija, Danas, NUNS, UNS, NDNV, 13.02.2012)

Slovenian newspaper Finance reports that Marko Jaklic, the director of the company "Lekarna Ljubljana", which is owned by the city of Ljubljana, bought half of the Belgrade Radio Index together with Franz Henigman, a former member of the management of the Slovenian national insurance company "Vzajemna". The owner of Radio Index, Slovenian citizen Leo Oblak, says that he is trying to convince Marko Jaklic to take over the management of Radio Indeks.
(B92, NUNS, 02.02.2012, Alo!, 03.02.2012)