Minister “pleased to see Telekom winning,” SBB: Wrongful attack by Minister

Mihailo Jovanović
Tanjug/MIT, Marina Jančević

Serbian Information and Telecommunications Minister Mihailo Jovanovic reacted to an opposition parties’ warning that the new media laws “devastate the media scene in Serbia.” In a written statement Jovanovic condemned the opposition’s statement, said it contains untruths and that the draft laws were finally agreed on at a meeting attended not only by journalists’ associations but also by European Union (EU) and OSCE representatives.

Jovanovic then targeted the opposition and United Group, and said the following:

“It is with much regret that I have to note that you and United Group are against these laws, though I sincerely doubt that you share the same interests, you rather serve their interest. Telekom Serbia operates in line with the law, it has operated in line with the law, however, during the years of your rule and that of your favorites, it was a punching bag for the SBB. This state has decided to create fair market conditions and not, as in your time, to favor the SBB and its business operations. Such opposition representatives’ conduct should not come as a surprise to anyone, they are simply continuing to do what they did when they were in power, and that it to serve solely in the interest of the SBB,” said Minister Jovanovic.

He added that, as a Serbian citizen, he is pleased to see that Telekom is winning in a fair market competition, Novosti reported.

In the statement forwarded to N1, he assessed that the opposition is not held accountable for presenting untruths, and that it is also the one generating divisions in our society.

Telecommunications Minister’s wrongful attack on the SBB and clear support for Telekom

The Information and Telecommunications Minister abused his position today in order to openly lobby and root for the company Telekom Serbia and so once again demonstrated that the Serbian ministers violate the Constitution, favoring a state company over the SBB.

It is highly inappropriate for a minister to shout out that he is pleased that Telekom is winning in what he called a “fair market competition.”

Instead of providing a clear answer to the question of why the state allowed the Telekom Serbia company to illegally found media outlets contrary to the laws still in effect and why a provision legalizing this illegal situation was added at the very end of the work on the draft law, Minister Mihailo Jovanovic lashed out at the SBB and openly favored Telekom Serbia in an effort to hide this well-known fact from the Serbian citizens.

It is precisely because of the absence of the rule of law and fair market competition, open favoring of state-owned companies and obvious discrimination against the SBB and United Group, along with various kinds of obstructions, that international arbitration proceedings have been initiated before the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes of the World Bank (ICSID), known as the Washington Arbitration.

We inform Minister Jovanovic, who, in addition to having bad intentions also showed that he is uninformed, that the SBB is a domestic company (SBB is short Serbia Broadband), which was founded 21 years ago in Kragujevac. Perhaps the Minister would have somehow learnt this he had responded to the many letters that we had sent him with a request for a meeting. Instead of meeting and talking, the Minister joined numerous public officials in targeting the SBB.

Had he replied to a letter, he might have learnt that the SBB employs over 1,800 citizens of the Republic of Serbia and that it has invested 900 million euros in Serbia, and that it is therefore unprofessional and inappropriate of him, at the very least, to abuse his position in order to attack the SBB and openly support a state-owned company.