Telekom remains property of Serbia

The Government of Serbia has decided not to sell the national telecom firm Telekom Srbija.

- Although we received a good offer, we realized it was not good enough for us to go into the privatization of Telekom Srbija - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told a press conference.

According to him, six binding bids have been submitted for the 58-percent stake in Telekom Srbija, but that from Telekom Austria singled itself out and was better than the one from 2011.

Vucic said there had been nothing to object to in the offer submitted by the best bidder, except for the unsatisfactory price. As Vucic noted, this bid came from an American investment fund whose name he could not disclose.

- We cannot talk about details, and I can only say it is an American fund. This company was the only bidder to possess all possible guarantees and offer good terms. All bids were serious, but only the one submitted by Americans was close to what we requested, unlike all the others - said Vucic.

As the prime minister explained, his cabinet has made the decision unanimously, at the suggestion of a commission set up for the privatization of the company.

Vucic remarked that the government "expected the price that was also agreed on with union representatives."

Privatization adviser for Telekom Srbija was the French company Lazard, while a call for tenders for the majority stake in that company was issued in July 2015. The state currently owns 58.11 percent of Telekom, while the company owns 20 percent. Private citizens and current and former employees control stakes of 14.95 and 6.94 percent, respectively.

Let us remind that four years ago, Telekom Austria offered EUR 1.1 billion for 51 percent of shares in Telekom Srbija, when the government asked for a minimum of 1.4 billion.