VUCIC: Politika taken over by Farmakom

(Aleksandar Vucic)

Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic stated on Saturday (18 August 2012) that the facts on the recent sale of Politika news agency would be known until the end of August, adding that another leading news company Novosti had been purchased in a similar way, Tanjug news agency reported.

In an interview for the national broadcaster RTS, Vucic said that the government would try to protect state property in the companies.

He noted that the same company had 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, Vucic said.

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, he 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 noted.

When asked by RTS to specify whether the Sabac-based company he mentioned as the buyer was Farmakom, Vucic confirmed that that was the company he had referred to.

Vucic said that it was easy to arrest someone but that should not be the goal, and it was important to do something more and return to the country what rightfully belonged 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 said.

Responding to the reporter's statement that Politika had been sold in line with the law that made it legal for the rightful owners of the Serbian media to remain anonymous, Vucic announced that certain activities would be conducted with the aim of defining ownership in the media.

Vucic noted that that was not a media issue but a question of whether Serbia as a country can 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.