“Facts on sale of dailies will be made public soon”

BELGRADE Serbian Deputy PM Aleksandar Vucic stated on Saturday that the facts on the recent sale of daily Politika would be made public soon. He added that another leading news company Novosti was purchased in a similar way. “Facts on sale of dailies will be made public soon” Vucic told Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) that the government would try to protect state property in the companies. He noted that the same company purchased both Politika and Novosti. “This is not a case of great interest in the media by the Moscow-based East Media Group which was set up by a company based in Sabac that acted on instructions of a political party,” Vuic explained. “It is the government's task to find a better legal framework for the protection of state property and those who did something illegal will have to answer for their actions,” the deputy prime minister noted. “All that has been done with Politika was done in the same way with Novosti and a signature of one of the owners is still lacking, but competent bodies will be able to say more about this point,” Vucic said. When asked to specify whether the Sabac-based company he mentioned as the buyer is Farmakom, Vucic confirmed that this was the company he referred to. He said that it was easy to arrest someone but this should not be the goal and “it is important to do something more and return to the country what rightfully belongs to Serbia, while responsible individuals should answer for their actions”. “The point is not to keep them in detention, but to raise a firm indictment and find out how the property could be restored,” he deputy PM added. Commenting on a statement that Politika was sold in keeping with the law that makes it legal for the rightful owners of the Serbian media to remain anonymous, Vucic pointed out that certain activities would be conducted which aim to define ownership in the media. He noted that this was not a media issue but a question of whether Serbia as a country could allow certain political parties to destroy entire national institutions and whether such financial transactions could be allowed especially since the country wanted them to be performed in secret, as was the case with this one. Aleksandar Vucic (Tanjug, file) Tanjug

“Facts on sale of dailies will be made public soon”

Vučić told Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) that the government would try to protect state property in the companies.

He noted that the same company purchased both Politika and Novosti.

“This is not a case of great interest in the media by the Moscow-based East Media Group which was set up by a company based in Šabac that acted on instructions of a political party,” Vuić explained.

“It is the government's task to find a better legal framework for the protection of state property and those who did something illegal will have to answer for their actions,” the deputy prime minister noted.

“All that has been done with Politika was done in the same way with Novosti and a signature of one of the owners is still lacking, but competent bodies will be able to say more about this point,” Vučić said.

When asked to specify whether the Šabac-based company he mentioned as the buyer is Farmakom, Vučić confirmed that this was the company he referred to.

He said that it was easy to arrest someone but this should not be the goal and “it is important to do something more and return to the country what rightfully belongs to Serbia, while responsible individuals should answer for their actions”.

“The point is not to keep them in detention, but to raise a firm indictment and find out how the property could be restored,” he deputy PM added.

Commenting on a statement that Politika was sold in keeping with the law that makes it legal for the rightful owners of the Serbian media to remain anonymous, Vučić pointed out that certain activities would be conducted which aim to define ownership in the media.

He noted that this was not a media issue but a question of whether Serbia as a country could allow certain political parties to destroy entire national institutions and whether such financial transactions could be allowed especially since the country wanted them to be performed in secret, as was the case with this one.