The Serbian government has no immediate plans to sell its majority stake in incumbent Telekom Srbija, according to the economic adviser to Serbia’s first vice-president.
Speaking at the Kopaonik Business Forum, Sinisa Mali said the government believes…
The Serbian government has no immediate plans to sell its majority stake in incumbent Telekom Srbija, according to the economic adviser to Serbia’s first vice-president.
Speaking at the Kopaonik Business Forum, Sinisa Mali said the government believes there is no reason to sell its shares in the Belgrade-based telco at present, local media reported.
Mali reportedly added that any possible privatisation would involve selling shares on the Belgrade Stock Exchange.
The Serbian government has a 58.11% stake in Telekom Srbija, the company itself a 20% stake, Further stakeholders include Serbian citizens and current and former employees.
The state regained control of Telekom Srbija in December 2011 when it agreed to buy back a 20% stake from Greek incumbent OTE for €380m. It was suggested at the time that the government hoped the acquisition would make it easier to advance long-delayed plans to find a new investor for the company.
Last year, local media reported that the government planned to launch an international tender for the telco, with newspaper Blic citing unnamed sources in June as saying the ministry of finance and economics would aim to raise €2bn from the sale of the entire company. No sales process however has materialised.
No plans to buy bank
Separately, Telekom Srbija has denied local reports that it plans to acquire Dunav Banka, but acknowledged its executive board has “reviewed forms of cooperation” with the bank.
“Telekom Srbija is exploring the possibilities for establishing some kind of links with entities in the banking industry of the Republic of Serbia,” the company said in a statement. “The size and technical capacities of Dunav Banka, as well as the scope of its business operations, are only some of the reasons why cooperation with this bank was considered, which does not rule out possible cooperation with other banks either.”
However, the telco said it has neither discussed nor reached an agreement on acquiring any bank, noting that it is currently drafting its strategic business plan. Set to be completed in April, the plan will set out Telekom Srbija’s strategic commitments and potential involvement in the banking industry.
Last April, Norwegian telco Telenor, which has a mobile unit and Serbia, and Societe Generale agreed to buy the Serbian unit of Belgian banking and insurance group KBC.
Telekom Srbija’s mt:s is the country’s largest mobile operator, followed by Telenor’s local unit and Telekom Austria’s Vip.
