The state-owned Telekom Serbia’s shareholder assembly decided to issue 2.35 million corporate bonds worth some 200 million Euro, the company said on its web site on Wednesday.

The total value of the issue is 23.5 billion Dinars (1 Euro – 118 Dinars) and the individual value of the bonds is 10,000 Dinars. The Telekom shareholder assembly decision states that the bonds are being issued for qualified investors with a due date of five years and a coupon interest rate of quarterly BELIBOR + 2.95 percentage points a year.

The deadline to apply for the bonds is 30 days from the date of the decision and the issue will be deemed successful if at least 50 percent of the shares are bought in that preiod. The statement said that the bonds are being issued to finance business needs, including existing debts and promoting business activities.

Telekom’s debts tripled over the past two years to reach 1.15 billion Euro. The main reason for the debt is the acquisition of cable operators which market experts said were bought at prices high above true market value. Telekom paid 195 million Euro for the Kopernikus cable operator whose true market value was assessed at 40 million and 108 million for Radijus Vektor whose alue was assessed at 24 million or 239 million Euro more than the two operators were worth.