UG: Serbia's PM openly deceives people by supporting state-owned Telekom

The UG's statement also said that as the tabloids' spins were not enough for the Telekom hoax, Brnabic presented a part of business correspondence between the United Media as a foreign investor and Telekom as the state company in front of cameras, omitting to tell the people the truth.

"When the contract expires, Telekom cannot continue to use our channels for free, since it would be theft and abuse of our signal. We haven't self-cancelled our channels, as the Prime Minister tried, together with tabloids, to pin on us. Still, we asked Telekom for a legal contract, refusing to discuss it with legally non-existent Supernova provider," the statement added.

The Group also said it was shocking that Prime Minister said the United Group could demand "a billion Euros for its channels and that Telecom must say OK only to air N1."

"It's a clear change of subject because we published a public offer for N1 TV programme at 0.4 Euros which Telekom has been ignoring, regarding of general interest," the United Media said.

The Group saw the Prime Minister's public address as another attempt to, helped by the state, eliminate N1 as a competition and strengthen Telekom monopoly across Serbia.

"This is the United Group which asks for a fair, transparent and equal market game, the implementation of clear and equal rules for all players in the market and their adjustment to the best practice in the European Union. Only fail competition is in the best interest of the users," the statement said.

The fair game, it has added, cannot exist if the respective authorities enable one operator to widen and improve the infrastructure in an urgent procedure while preventing the other one from offering its services to the people.

"It also cannot exist if the respective institutions ask for tough conditions in consolidating the market from one operator and don't ask for any from the other and enable it to monopolised the whole cities."

It also could not be a fair game in which one operator is encouraged to illegally instal the network, while the other company's legally installed, is removed.

The fair competition, the United Group, said, could not exist if one operator abuse public property non-transparently. In contrast, unjustified limits of using own private property were imposed on the other operator.

All these facts, the statement has added, are just a small part of an overall pogrom the United Group, one of the largest investors in Serbia, has been exposed to.

"A the same time, the Telecom managers absurdly accuse us of being the leaders of the cable cartel, that we have been working illegally, blaming us even for obstructing the Telekom development until 2012. They forget that Vladimir Lucic and Predrag Culibrk have been holding the posts for decades, meaning they have taken part in the so-called destruction of the company," The United Group said.

The United Group calls on people representing Serbia's executive power and their "protegee" Telekom company to stop using untrue information, deceive people and try to stop the United Group's operation."

"The key condition for the market competition is that the respective institutions equally treat all the participants, without privileges or discriminations. Such an attitude doesn't require special legal norms, but only the implementation of the laws in the same way to everyone," the United group statement said.

N1 TV is a part of the United Group.