Creative Lozionica, 5G, sale of SBB, from Azotara to Data Center – 2025 RETROSPECTIVE, investments in TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND IT

For a long time now, our construction companies have not been able to boast of many years of profitable work in high-rise and civil engineering abroad, primarily in Africa, as was the case 40 and 50 years ago. Now, even the most important infrastructure projects and the most important Serbian roads are being built by foreigners.

So, perhaps we cannot boast of the construction successes of the former construction giants, but on the other hand, reports and news about successes in another industry niche have been arriving on a monthly, and occasionally weekly, basis in the past year - the export of ICT services, the success of Serbian startups, investments in the development of data centers and STPs.

Therefore, it is not surprising that texts from this area were widely read, not only when it comes to exports and startups, but also when it comes to tectonic changes in the field of telecommunications in Serbia in 2025, and above all those related to the introduction of the 5G network, the sale of SBB, the announcement of the arrival of Starlink in the Balkans.

1. Starlink: I’m watching you

The news from early 2025 that during the year (now long gone) Elon Musk’s Starlink could become operational in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro aroused enormous interest, although it was not even close to clear when this could actually happen and under what conditions. Whether because this news item included information that, when this satellite internet arrives, it will also benefit rural areas, which newspapers have been bypassing for years and even decades as an unwritten rule, or because of the topic that has once again given enough cause for the development of conspiracy theories, this topic confidently shot up to the top of the list of those from the field of IT and telecommunications. And so, while the text itself dealt with the conditions that need to be met in order for Starlink to come to life in our area, at the same time our commentators dealt with how it (Starlink with its boss Elon Musk) opens the way for spying, but also how there is no use for it, as well as for Tesla cars, because like Tesla vehicles, as one commentator said, it will also shut down as soon as it doesn’t like something we say. On the other hand, there were those who noted that, as in everything else, we are lagging behind the world with Starlink, but only a few commentators noticed what is one of the main questions - even if Starlink came tomorrow, the question is how much demand there would be for it given its announced price. Especially in a country where internet packages are offered to new users as special offers in supermarkets - three for one, six for one...

2. United Group Chapter 2

The tectonic shift in the cable landscape of Serbia, which had been rumored for quite some time, finally happened in 2025 with the sale of cable operator SBB, the largest competitor to the state-owned cable operator. And while impressions about this were still settling, while changes within these cable networks, new channel layouts, the shutdown of some such as the famous Sportklub and the like were being analyzed, United Group RS appointed Vladica Tintor as director and legal representative. This news might not have come into focus so much if there had not been a definite confirmation for weeks about who the new people would be within the changes after one of the most important transactions in this area in Serbia.



3. Data Azotara and IT Pancevo

Along with construction, for decades the industrial backbone of Serbia has also been the chemical industry. It is not that we still do not have it, but it is slowly giving way, both figuratively and literally, to more modern, less-visible-to-the-naked-eye industries. Pancevo was at the top of the news for months due to the uncertainty surrounding the further operation of the Refinery, but another piece of news from the chemical industry in Pancevo resonated quite a bit, and that was that the location of HIP Azotara in Pancevo would be converted into a data location. This was announced this summer when amendments to the General Regulation Plan, Unit 8 Petrohemija, Azotara and the Refinery, were published, which envisaged the removal of almost all existing production and storage capacities from the time of the chemical industry, while a smaller number of infrastructure systems would remain in operation and be incorporated into the future use of the space, primarily the aforementioned data centers. The plan envisaged the construction of several facilities within a closed and fenced system, including the main data center facility, technical and auxiliary buildings, as well as accompanying energy and cooling capacities.

4. Mail Coach LLC

In the year behind us, the previous editions of the Official Gazette were barely hot off the press, and new ones were already arriving with an additional list of companies whose form was changing from a public enterprise to a limited liability company. And while citizens who are fond of the spirit of the past were waiting for a New Year’s card to arrive in their mailbox, the Government’s decision to transform this company from a public enterprise into a limited liability company arrived at the address of the Post of Serbia towards the end of 2025. Along with the Post of Serbia, the form of the company Emisiona tehnika i veze was also changed in the same way. Although the decision stated that the assets and liabilities of these companies would remain the same, and that the share capital of the previous public enterprises would be converted into shares in a limited liability company, readers who were very interested in this topic did not exactly take that position. They wondered what the point of this change was if “everything remains the same,” assessing in short that what was being done to those companies was tantamount to embezzlement, robbery and - thievery!



5(G)

While waiting for Starlink, the citizens of Serbia welcomed another virtual guest that will soon become a home in this region - the 5G network. In anticipation of the official establishment of the 5G network in our territory, last fall, Telekom Srbija CEO Vladimir Lucic announced the signing of an arrangement with the American Exim Bank to finance the 5G network in Serbia. He emphasized at the time that both European and American financial institutions were ready to help Telekom in the development of the 5G network, and that their goal was to make it functional in December. The company’s CEO said that the foundation of the infrastructure had been laid that would allow users to immediately see 5G in large cities, and that, as soon as the permit was obtained, people would see 5G on their phones. In the meantime, 5G has arrived in Serbia, and what many users have experienced as side effects in the weeks since its establishment are interruptions in telephone connections and interference on some television channels.

6. Creative jobs in Lozionica

Just as the former Main Railway Station in Belgrade began to transform into a Historical Museum instead of a Railway Station, the former Lozionica [Furnace – translator’s note] was not transformed into a space that cherishes and preserves the railway tradition of Serbia, but into a new Lozionica – “a driver of creativity and innovation,” as its official description states. The eGovernment House was also moved into this space, which was officially put into operation in October after reconstruction and modernization. The authorities described the commissioning of this space as a place where new IT solutions would be further worked on with the economy and startup community, and with the support of experts in the field of science and technology, and a place where the AI District, Cyber District, Open Data Hub, and Digital District would be formed. On the other hand, the readers of our portal were very polarized - while some praised and blessed whoever thought to fix up and repurpose that space for these purposes, others retorted that they were getting too worked up about Lozionica, not even knowing what that space would really be used for.

7. Modern tax

The state allocated a lot of money for Lozionica, but the state also went into debt in the year behind us for what is almost the bread and butter of the state treasury - taxes, or more precisely, the modernization of this area. Namely, this summer, the World Bank approved the Tax Administration Modernization Project, providing Serbia with an additional EUR 27.25 million (USD 30 million) for reforms designed to improve the efficiency of tax collection and reduce the burden of compliance for taxpayers. As announced at the time, the project will introduce several improvements, such as a personal e-portal to simplify tax compliance and better insight into tax evasion patterns.

8. Surcin - from EXPO to express mail

Whenever Surcin is mentioned in the past two years, the first association, along with the airport, is the EXPO complex and the National Stadium. But, apart from the state, which is developing this “national” project, others are increasingly recognizing the potential of Surcin as an economic and business zone. This is, in particular, the case with Bexexpress from Sabac, which is planning to build an express mail center in Surcin. This was announced by an early public review of the purposes of developing the DRP of a part of the industrial zone along the bypass freight railway in the territory of this municipality. The plan is to build storage capacities, supporting facilities, handling and traffic areas, in accordance with the potential of the space in question and the needs related to the company’s operating technology.

9. United Group Chapter 1

The appointment of Vladica Tintor attracted a lot of public attention, but a few months earlier, in February last year, the sale of SBB itself was also under the public scrutiny. United Group B.V., which is majority owned by BC Partners, announced at the time that an agreement had been reached on the sale of SBB, a provider of pay television, broadband internet and landline telephone services in Serbia, to e& (Etisalat) PPF Telecom Group B.V. An agreement was also reached on the sale of Eon TV International Ltd (the holding company of the NetTV Plus business), as well as the right to broadcast sports events in the Western Balkans (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) to Telekom Srbija a.d. Beograd. The transaction value for the purchase of SBB, as announced by Yettel, is EUR 825 million, cashless and debt-free, while Telekom announced that it had paid EUR 652 million for Eon and the licenses for the Sportklub channels.

10. The first independent Anker store in Europe

We regularly criticize ourselves for lagging behind the world and Europe in many ways. But, if there is one thing we are not lagging behind, it is in following new technologies, the release of new phones, gadgets, cars... Presumably that is why it should not be surprising that the news last spring that the Chinese Anker Innovations, a leading world brand known for the production of chargers for mobile devices and cars, was opening its first independent store in Europe attracted a lot of attention, and the location was Belgrade, i.e. TC Galerija. The store was announced as a store with products from all Anker brands, from chargers for mobile devices and smart home solutions, to audio and entertainment technology.

We invite you to see which investments marked the year 2025 in the areas of REAL ESTATE, TRADE CENTERS, TRANSPORT, AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY, TOURISM, INDUSTRY AND MINING, UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENERGY, SPORTS and HEALTHCARE.

Telekom Srbija a.d. Beograd

Yettel d.o.o. Beograd

SBB d.o.o. Beograd

United Grupa BROADBAND INVESTMENT S.à r.l.

UNITED GROUP RS D.O.O. BEOGRAD

JP Pošta Srbije Beograd

Ložionica d.o.o. Beograd

HIP-AZOTARA d.o.o. Pančevo

BC Partners LLP

PPF a.s.

Starlink

Tesla

BC Partners

PPF Telecom Group BV

Bexexpress

SBB

United Group

Anker Innovations

HIP Azotara Pančevo

Vladica Tintor

Elon Musk

construction of data center in location of Azotara Pancevo

5G network

2025 retrospective telecommunications and it