Media business operations

A former director of RTV Bujanovac, Sevdailj Hiseni, employed eight new workers on permanent employment contracts only one week before leaving his position, said to journalists the new president of the Managing Board of the public company, Nedzat Behljulji. Behljulji is a member of the Democratic Party, which has formed a new local government with the Serbian coalition after the elections held on May 6. No one understands this decision of the former director, because it is well-known that the station with 34 employees has difficulties surviving and additional eight workers are not needed by TV Bujanovac, said Behljulji.
(Danas, 21.07.2012)

Some of the newly-employed workers allegedly told the police in Bujanovac that they had no other choice but to pay bribes amounting to 1,000-2,000 euros so that they would be employed. Sevdailj Hiseni was not available for comment.
(Blic, 30.07.2012)

In the last month, the largest salaries were earned by employees in the industry of manufacturing of tobacco products (99,300 dinars on average), while the employees in the cinema, TV and music production received five times less (19,800 dinars on average).
(Pregled, 26.07.2012)

The business association "Local Press" has expressed its solidarity with and support for the demands made by local electronic media outlets for revision of invoices sent recently to them by SOKOJ. So far, aside from the members of Local Press – print and online local media outlets – the campaign has been joined by more than 25 local radio stations from Krusevac, Loznica, Kragujevac, Cacak, Odzak, Uzice, Pozarevac... We call on local non-governmental organizations to support the campaign "Defend Locally" and support their local media. We call on the representatives of SOKOJ to negotiate a solution to the problem, says the press statement.
(Local Press, UNS, 01.08.2012)

Regional Press Media Summit will be held this in October of this year in Belgrade. The main topic of the Summit will be the cross-border sale of the print media in the region.
(Beta, NUNS, 31.07.2012)

Privatization and the state-owned media

The case of TV CACAK

The employees of TV Cacak, who have been striking for 24 days, demand that the Privatization Agency terminate the sales contract on the basis of which the former city TV station was sold to a private owner. Representatives of the Agency visited the city of Cacak yesterday to conduct a routine control of the contract on privatization. The new administration of Cacak gave its support to strikers and intends to "make attempt to find a model" that would ensure survival of TV Cacak.
(Blic, Politika, Pregled, Press, Vecernje novosti, UNS, NUNS, 20.07.2012)

The Commercial Court in Cacak has decided to initiate bankruptcy proceedings in TV Cacak because of the station's inability to conduct payments. The bankruptcy proceedings were initiated after request by the company Pro Vision. TV Cacak owes 871,000 dinars to Pro Vision. Yesterday the bankruptcy manager, Aleksije Kaludjerovic, visited the station, took the keys to its premises and vehicles, as well as its business seals, and ordered that its programme be shut down at midnight.
(Blic, Politika, Press, Pregled, Vecernje novosti – Serbia, UNS, 25.07.2012)

Employees of TV Cacak, which became the subject of bankruptcy proceedings two days ago on the order of the Commercial Court in Cacak, spent the whole night in the premises of the station because they were not willing to shut down the programme aired by the station in accordance with demand made by the bankruptcy manager. The police visited the station in the early morning but, in the words of the employees, they only examined the situation.
(Press, 26.07.2012)

During the yesterday's meeting between employees of TV Cacak and the Commercial Court Judge Marija Adzemovic, who had ordered the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings in the media company, and the bankruptcy manager, it was agreed that broadcasting of the programme will be allowed so that the regional TV station would not lose its broadcasting license. The owner would benefit more from bankruptcy than from termination of privatization, since in such case he would not be obliged to repay the debt, which would instead be repayed from the bankruptcy assets – which have a much lower value than the outstanding debt. We suspect that the owner has hidden personal debt and debt of other companies behind the total debt of the TV station, the employees said.
(Vecernje novosti – Serbia, Blic, 26.07.2012, 29.07.2012)

The legal representative of the Journalists' Union of Serbia (SNS), lawyer Nenad Cvjeticanin, published yesterday a press statement on behalf of TV Cacak saying that the decision to initiate bankruptcy proceedings was illegal and that the Privatization Agency, as the only actively legitimate side in the case, should appeal the decision so that it can be revoked.
(Tanjug, Beta, Danas, Pregled, 26.07.2012)

The bankruptcy manager, Aleksije Kaludjerovic, visited TV Cacak yesterday and repeated his demand that the employees leave the premises of the station and stop airing its programme. "The law does allow any alternative interpretations, and one of the legal consequences of the bankruptcy proceedings is the termination of employment contracts of all employees. They are under great stress, which is understandable, but such is the reality", said Kaludjerovic to the daily newspaper Politika.
(Politika, UNS, 26.07.2012)

Representatives of the employees of TV Cacak met with the Commercial Court Judge Marija Adzemovic, who explained them the reasons for the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings and pointed out that she had been legally obliged to make such a decision not later than a three-day period without notifying the Privatization Agency.
(Beta, Pregled, Politika, Informer, 27.07.2012)

Employees of TV Cacak, which became the subject of bankruptcy proceedings during the last week, were dismissed from work yesterday.
(UNS, 31.07.2012, Blic, 31.07.2012, Tanjug, RTV B92, NUNS, Politika, Press, 01.08.2012)

The case of Politika

East Media Group from Moscow took over 50 percent of the company "Politika Newspapers and Magazines" from the Vienna-based Ost Holding, it has been published on the website of the Business Registers Agency. The oldest daily newspaper in Serbia and the Balkans, Politika, i.e. the publisher of the newspaper, the company "Politika Newspapers and Magazines", has a new ownership structure as of July 16.
(NUNS,17.07.2012, Beta, NUNS, 18.07.2012, Danas, Politika, 19.07.2012, ASMEDI, juli 2012)

The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) called on the members of the former government and the daily newspaper Politika to immediately reveal to the public all relevant information about the transfer of ownership over the newspaper.
(NUNS, 18.07.2012)

No one has any official information about the sale of the ownership share in the company "Politika Newspapers and Magazines" owned by the German company VAC. Despite the fact that the press statement issued by the new owners of a half of Politika says that negotiations lasted for several months, the senior managers of Politika a.d., which is the owner of the other half of the company, claim that they have not been informed about that.
(Beta, Pregled, Press, Blic, Kurir, 19.07.2012)

The vice president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Nebojsa Stefanovic, said yesterday that the new government should investigate who are the people standing behind the purchase of the shares of Politika and how that could happen "overnight and without and public knowledge". Media associations – NUNS, UNS, ANEM, Local Press and NDNV – say that the case of Politika is a good opportunity for the new government to ensure transparency of ownership over the media.
(Beta, Danas, Tanjug, Pregled, Alo!, Dnevnik, 19.07.2012)

The president of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) and a former editor-in-chief of Politika, Ljiljana Smajlovic, says that she is embarrased by the behaviour of the current editorial team of the oldest newspaper in the Balkans, as well as by the fact that the technical government had not done anything to protect the law and its interest.
(Informer, Vecernje novosti, 19.07.2012)

The director of Politika a.d., Zefirino Grasi, has not been contacted by the buyer of the ownership share in the joint company "Politika Newspapers and Magazines" owned by the German corporation VAC. The company publishes the daily newspaper Politika. A letter sent by East Media Group to the Legal Office Zivkovic/Samardzic and carrying the designation "Moscow, Russian Federation, July 18, 2012", without any company logo, says that the company entered the deal with intention to "strengthen and improve the market position of 'Politika Newspapers and Magazines' and ensure its development and growth".
(Tanjug, Pregled, Politika, 19.07.2012)

Dragan Bujosevic, the editor of the newspaper Politika, says: "East Media Group is a co-owner, and not a new owner of Politika, because the German company VAC could only sell its own share in 'Politika Newspapers and Magazines'. The state-owned share is still owned by the state, i.e. the government. Therefore a change in the editorial policy in 'Politika Newspapers and Magazines' (the daily newspaper Politika, Sportski Zurnal and Stamparija) is not to be expected. I believe that Politika should be privatized, in accordance with law. State patronage over Politika has cost the newspaper 200,000 of its readers and, among other things, the building in the center of Belgrade which is now owned by the Commercial Bank, while Politika is paying a rent for the building."
(Politika, 19.07.2012)

The contract on sale of 50 percent of "Politika Newspapers and Magazines" obliges the buyer, East Media Group, to immediately pay 4,000,000 euros, while the remaining 700,000 euros is to be paid until December 1, 2014. Interest of 1.75 percent will be charged during the period between the signing of the contract and the day of payment.
(Politika, 19.07.2012)

The acting president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Aleksandar Vucic, accused the leader of the Democratic Party (DS), Boris Tadic, and the deputy president of DS, Dusan Petrovic, of standing behind the "criminal and scandalous" sale of 50 percent of the shares of the daily newspaper Politika. The deputy president of the DS, Dusan Petrovic, said yesterday that these claims were completely untrue. The owner of the company Pharmacom, Miroslav Bogicevic, said that he had not bought the daily newspaper Politika and that he had not in any way participated in the deal.
(Tanjug, Pregled, 19.07.2012, Beta, Politika, Blic, 20.07.2012)

Moscow-based East Media Group has not asked for approval of the Committee for Protection of Competition of its purchase of the stocks of the company "Politika Newspapers and Magazines". Approval by the Committee is required only if the buyer of the shares acquires majority ownership i.e. the control package of stocks.
(Beta, Pregled, 19.07.2012)

Official data on business operations of "Politika Newspapers and Magazines" is not good: the company, which employs 439 people, suffered losses in the amount of 30 million dinars in the last year, while its net loss amounted to 18.4 million dinars. According to sources of Novosti, Politika and VAC have not even agreed on the amount of money owed by the domestic media company to the German corporation. Estimates vary from five to 15 million euros.
(Vecernje novosti, 19.07.2012)

The minister of culture, Predrag Markovic, said that his Ministry was not competent in the area of media ownership, and that other parts of the government have responsibilities in that field.
(Vecernje novosti, 19.07.2012)

A deputy in the national parliament and a member of the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP), Zoran Ostojic, said yesterday that LDP would demand formation of an investigative parliamentary committee tasked with investigation of the sale of Politka.
(Beta, Politika, Alo!, Vecernje novosti, Kurir, 20.07.2012)

The Tax Administration of Serbia has not yet received any application related to capital gain from the buyer of a part of the daily newspaper Politika, the East Media Group, said the director of the Administration, Dragutin Radosavljevic.
(Danas, Dnevnik, Vecernje novosti, 20.07.2012)

The director of the Anti-Corruption Agency, Zorana Markovic, said yesterday that the Agency received the information about the change in ownership over Politika from the media and that this information does not offer any basis for the Agency to act upon.
(Beta, Politika, Informer, 20.07.2012)

In the beginning of April, German corporation VAC offered Serbia to purchase 50 percent of ownership over the daily newspaper Politika for the sum of 4.7 million euros, but the government probably could not afford the purchase, said yesterday the consultant on foreign investment, Mahmut Busatlija.
(Pregled, Vecernje Novosti, 20.07.2012)

The change in ownership over the daily newspaper Politika will be investigated by the authorities in the following days, it was announced yesterday by the Serbian Progressive Party.
(Informer, 20.07.2012, Danas, Dnevnik, Politika, 23.07.2012)

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined yesterday the media associations from Serbia and Germany in their criticism of the total lack of transparency in the sale of the 50 percent of Politika owned by VAC.
(UNS, 24.07.2012, Tanjug, Politika, Večernje novosti, 25.07.2012)

The editor of the foreign policy section of the daily newspaper Politika, Bosko Jaksic, says: "Mr. Dacic and Mr. Vucic, do not allow that the case of the sale of Politika ends like all the previous cases. You could score an important point in the very beginning if you help liberate the media scene and introduce transparency, as you have been announcing. Otherwise, a missed opportunity would give a very bad signal about the future, and convince us – the employees of Politika – that Serbian politicians do not care about the fate of the oldest Serbian newspaper."
(Politika, 22.07.2012)

The representative of the state capital in Politika, Jovan Simic, said yesterday that it was not certain whether the contract on sale of the stocks, owned by VAC and offered for purchase to the state, was valid, and that the then Managing and Monitoring Boards were informed about the offer made by the German media group.
(Politika, 20.07.2012)

The public has failed to notice that the International Financial Corporation (IFC) approved Pharmacom MB in October the amounts of 40 million euros and another 80 million euros in so-called mobile funds from commercial banks operating in Serbia.
(Pregled, 23.07.2012)

A protest of a part of employees of "Politika a.d." ended with an agreement between the employees and the management that the one and a half late salaries should be paid before the next Friday. If the agreement is honoured, the employees will not begin a strike that would suspend the printing of daily newspapers Politika and Kurir.
(UNS, 20.07.2012, Danas, 21.07.2012, Tanjug, Pregled, Alo!, 23.07.2012)

Gordana Susa says in an opinion piece published by the daily newspaper Blic: "50 percent of the shares of Politika is being sold to a newly-founded company which is unrelated to the field of publishing, lacks business operations that would enable it to pay 4.7 million euros, and was founded in the Russian Federation, not on Cayman Islands. At the same time, the daily newspaper Politika began publishing a new special supplement entitled 'Ruska Rec'... On top of all of this, the whole transaction was legal because the law does not stipulate transparency of ownership, while the director, the editorial office and the Managing Board were not informed."
(Blic, 21.07.2012)

The mystery centered on the new owner of a half of the daily newspaper Politika has not been resolved for four days, ever since the Business Registers Agency registered a new co-owner, the Moscow-based East Media Group. Yesterday, Prime Minister Ivica Dacic gave his support to demands that the transaction be investigated in order to identify the actual buyer of the newspaper.
(Blic, 21.07.2012)

A German association of journalists strongly criticized the German publishing corporation VAC because of the manner in which it sold its share in Politika. Haindrich Zerner, the head of the public relations of the German Association of Journalists, said to Politika: "Ever since VAC became active in the media scene abroad, it has been acted in the new markets precisely in the way that German laws do not allow".
(Politika, 24.07.2012)

15 days after VAC sold 50 percent of ownership in the company "Politika Newspapers and Magazines" (PNM), a representative of the new co-owner, Russian company East Media Group, has not yet spoken in public.
(Akter, 01.08.2012)

Immediately after it was formed in the end of January in Moscow, East Media Group was rumored as the prospective buyer of the stocks of Dnevnik owned by the German corporation.
(Vecernje novosti, 19.07.2012)

The case of TV Pink & Avala

After the sale of Politika, a new storm is brewing in the media scene of Serbia. According to sources quoted by the daily newspaper Press, an agreement on the sale of TV Avala has been reached, while the sale of TV Pink is in its final stage. Well-informed sources say that TV Pink will be purchased by SBB, while the owners of TV Avala will be two foreign companies, with unknown backers.
(Press, E-kapija, 19.07.2012)

Bogoljub Karic, one of the owners of the company BK, who is also wanted by the Interpol, intends to buy TV Avala, reports the daily newspaper Kurir. Dragomir Karic, a deputy in the parliament and a member of the Serbia Force Movement (PSS), says that the family wants to own a TV station again, but that the purchase of TV Avala has not been discussed. The deputy president of the Council of the Republic Broadcasting Agency, Goran Karadzic, said that he was not aware of any information about the sale of TV Avala.
(Kurir, Politika, 20.07.2012)

The press department of Radio-Television Pink said that the media company was not for sale at the moment, that there were no negotiations about the sale of the TV station, and that the minority share in TV Avala owned by Zeljko Mitrovic, the owner of TV Pink, was also not for sale.
(Blic, Danas, Dnevnik, Informer, Press, Vecernje novosti, UNS, 20.07.2012)

The media company VAC still owns 55 percent of the shares of the daily newspaper from Novi Sad, Dnevnik, while the director of "Dnevnik Vojvodina Press", Dusan Vlaovic, says that he does not know what the German company intends to do with its share. He notes that in October 2010 VAC offered to give its shares to employees of Dnevnik under certain conditions, but that "Dnevnik Holding" refused the proposal invoking the right of first purchase.
(Tanjug, Dnevnik, 22.07.2012, UNS, 23.07.2012)

The most recent events related to the privatization of the company Politika, as well as the strike of employees and the bankruptcy of TV Cacak, confirm the validity and necessity of the Kragujevac Initiative signed by representatives of numerous electronic media outlets from all parts of Serbia since 2007, says the yesterday's open letter sent to the president of the Government of Serbia and the minister of culture and information, as well as NUNS and UNS, by the directors and editors-in-chief of Radio-Television Kragujevac (RTK), NTV Nis and radio stations in Pancevo and Novi Pazar. They demand that the authorities implement the recently adopted Strategy of Development of the System of Public Information in Serbia until 2016, which stipulates formation of six regional radio and TV public service broadcasters.
(Beta, Politika, Danas, Dnevnik, UNS, Blic, 27.07.2012)