Daily: Government to sell Telekom for EUR 2.5bn

BELGRADE The Serbian government is prepared to sell Telekom Srbija, but not for less than EUR 2.5bn, daily Blic has reported. Finance Minister Mladjan Dinkic stated on Thursday that the state would be forced to sell part of its assets in order to fill the budget. Daily: Government to sell Telekom for EUR 2.5bn He specified that the assets that will be up for sale would include public companies "that have competition, and which will not be able to keep up with it." Telekom Srbija is such a company and the deficit in the Serbian budget will be more than EUR 2bn by the end of the year, Blic writes. It still has not been decided whether this company will be offered in a tender or whether it will be sold through direct negotiations, the daily reports. The state has already tried to sell Telekom in a tender slated in October 2010, which failed. The value of the company was appraised at EUR 2.4bn and Serbia requested EUR 1.4bn for 51 percent of the capital. The only offer that arrived at the time was from Telekom Austria, which offered EUR 950mn for the shares and EUR 450mn for investments. In the second offer Telekom Austria offered EUR 800mn plus EUR 300mn in the next nine years. The Serbian government rejected the offers. According to official data, in 2011 Telekom Srbija had a net profit of RSD 22.27bn dinars, which is around RSD 6.5bn, i.e. 41.1 percent more than in 2010. Just ahead of the May elections, the government passed a decision for around 4.8 million adult citizens of Serbia to receive 15 percent of Telekom shares for free and 6.94 percent to go to the company's employees. Each citizen received around EUR 70 in shares but to date they cannot be cashed in or traded. Telekom Srbija also owns telecommunications companies Mtel in Montenegro and Telekom Srpske in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In late August Dinkic strongly denied reports of Belgrade-based weekly NIN that Telekom Srbija would be up for sale again. "No one has announced the sale of Telekom and this hasn't even been discussed," he said at the time. Branko Radujko, a Democratic Party (DS) official, headed Telekom Srbije until last week, but has since resigned. The government appointed Predrag Culibrk, as a non-partisan person, as the new director, at a session on September 20. Radujko claims that during his term in office Telekom Srbija's debt was reduced by 54 percent, from EUR 904mn to EUR 436mn, before the loan for the acquisition of the shares from Greek company OTE, and by 23 percent, from EUR 904mn to EUR 701mn today, including the new loan. VIP

Daily: Government to sell Telekom for EUR 2.5bn

He specified that the assets that will be up for sale would include public companies "that have competition, and which will not be able to keep up with it."

Telekom Srbija is such a company and the deficit in the Serbian budget will be more than EUR 2bn by the end of the year, Blic writes.

It still has not been decided whether this company will be offered in a tender or whether it will be sold through direct negotiations, the daily reports.

The state has already tried to sell Telekom in a tender slated in October 2010, which failed. The value of the company was appraised at EUR 2.4bn and Serbia requested EUR 1.4bn for 51 percent of the capital. The only offer that arrived at the time was from Telekom Austria, which offered EUR 950mn for the shares and EUR 450mn for investments. In the second offer Telekom Austria offered EUR 800mn plus EUR 300mn in the next nine years. The Serbian government rejected the offers.

According to official data, in 2011 Telekom Srbija had a net profit of RSD 22.27bn dinars, which is around RSD 6.5bn, i.e. 41.1 percent more than in 2010.

Just ahead of the May elections, the government passed a decision for around 4.8 million adult citizens of Serbia to receive 15 percent of Telekom shares for free and 6.94 percent to go to the company's employees. Each citizen received around EUR 70 in shares but to date they cannot be cashed in or traded.

Telekom Srbija also owns telecommunications companies Mtel in Montenegro and Telekom Srpske in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In late August Dinkić strongly denied reports of Belgrade-based weekly NIN that Telekom Srbija would be up for sale again.

"No one has announced the sale of Telekom and this hasn't even been discussed," he said at the time.

Branko Radujko, a Democratic Party (DS) official, headed Telekom Srbije until last week, but has since resigned. The government appointed Predrag Ćulibrk, as a non-partisan person, as the new director, at a session on September 20.

Radujko claims that during his term in office Telekom Srbija's debt was reduced by 54 percent, from EUR 904mn to EUR 436mn, before the loan for the acquisition of the shares from Greek company OTE, and by 23 percent, from EUR 904mn to EUR 701mn today, including the new loan.