Dinkić "didn't say what he said"

Mladjan Dinkic has denied that he promised Serbians they would each get EUR 1,000 in free shares so that Boris Tadic could be reelected the country's president. The deputy PM and economy minister, and leader of G17 Plus party and the United Regions of Serbia coalition, recently spoke for Belgrade's Danas newspaper, which then ran the headline, "I promised EUR 1,000 for the sake of Tadic". Dinkic "didn't say what he said" Dinkic now told B92 that this headline was "something I did not say, taken out of context". The statement was met with condemnation from Tadic's ruling Democrats (DS), but Dinkic says that his opponents used it to manipulate, "afraid of the growing popularity of the United Regions of Serbia". Dinkic sent his "letter to the public" in the middle of the late 2007-early 2008 presidential campaign in Serbia, saying that the citizens would receive EUR 1,000 in free shares from privatizations of large state-owned companies. Thus far, they received shares worth EUR 25. Dinkic said today that at the time he "profoundly believed" that it would be possible to reach the figure, and blamed the world economic crisis and the sale of NIS to Russians "for an extremely low price" for the outcome. He added that the final figure will be higher than some analysts are now saying, "which will be demonstrated after the privatization of Telekom", but that it will not amount to the promised EUR 1,000. Dinkic also stated that he regretted the fact the Democrats "made the wrong conclusion that he was hiding behind someone based on Danas' unfair headline", that Tadic "never asked him to make the promise", and that he "took over the responsibility and is paying the political price alone". While he concedes that he wrote his "letter to the citizens" believing that it would help get Tadic reelected, Dinkic asserts that the newspaper "published a lie by implicating that he deliberately lied so that Tadic could win". In his interview for B92 today Dinkic further stated that he "did not lie", but merely made a wrong appraisal, while he could not have influenced the final result. Dinkic also advised Serbians to watch an RTS program broadcast a month ago, where he "said the same as in his Danas interview" - that he de facto helped Tadic win, because polls indicated that his promise contributed to "700,000 people deciding to vote for Tadic". Mladjan Dinkic (Beta, file) "Hopefully he won't be saying untruths again" The daily that ran the interview with Mladjan Dinkic reacted to his statements made today to condemn him and reject his accusations. A statement from the Danas newspaper says that while Dinkic objected to the headline to the story being taken out of context and put together maliciously, as well as to "the untruths printed" - "it remains unclear what he is in fact unsatisfied with". The daily rejected the accusations, adding that Dinkic had an opportunity to authorize the interview, and that the authorized version was published. "While fully aware of his political problems with his coalition partners and the need to justify himself by immorally transferring the responsibility to the media, we hope that Mladjan Dinkic will not be saying untruths again," the newspaper concluded in its statement.

Dinkić "didn't say what he said"

Dinkić now told B92 that this headline was "something I did not say, taken out of context".

The statement was met with condemnation from Tadić's ruling Democrats (DS), but Dinkić says that his opponents used it to manipulate, "afraid of the growing popularity of the United Regions of Serbia".

Dinkić sent his "letter to the public" in the middle of the late 2007-early 2008 presidential campaign in Serbia, saying that the citizens would receive EUR 1,000 in free shares from privatizations of large state-owned companies. Thus far, they received shares worth EUR 25.

Dinkić said today that at the time he "profoundly believed" that it would be possible to reach the figure, and blamed the world economic crisis and the sale of NIS to Russians "for an extremely low price" for the outcome.

He added that the final figure will be higher than some analysts are now saying, "which will be demonstrated after the privatization of Telekom", but that it will not amount to the promised EUR 1,000.

Dinkić also stated that he regretted the fact the Democrats "made the wrong conclusion that he was hiding behind someone based on Danas' unfair headline", that Tadić "never asked him to make the promise", and that he "took over the responsibility and is paying the political price alone".

While he concedes that he wrote his "letter to the citizens" believing that it would help get Tadić reelected, Dinkić asserts that the newspaper "published a lie by implicating that he deliberately lied so that Tadić could win".

In his interview for B92 today Dinkić further stated that he "did not lie", but merely made a wrong appraisal, while he could not have influenced the final result.

Dinkić also advised Serbians to watch an RTS program broadcast a month ago, where he "said the same as in his Danas interview" - that he de facto helped Tadić win, because polls indicated that his promise contributed to "700,000 people deciding to vote for Tadić".

"Hopefully he won't be saying untruths again"

The daily that ran the interview with Mlađan Dinkić reacted to his statements made today to condemn him and reject his accusations.

A statement from the Danas newspaper says that while Dinkić objected to the headline to the story being taken out of context and put together maliciously, as well as to "the untruths printed" - "it remains unclear what he is in fact unsatisfied with".

The daily rejected the accusations, adding that Dinkić had an opportunity to authorize the interview, and that the authorized version was published.

"While fully aware of his political problems with his coalition partners and the need to justify himself by immorally transferring the responsibility to the media, we hope that Mlađan Dinkić will not be saying untruths again," the newspaper concluded in its statement.