The Serbian Association of Journalists (UNS) said on Monday that a national radio frequency has been allocated to a company that makes paint.

The UNS said that the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) handed the frequency to Radio Cherry which is not listed in the REM registry of media service providers nor in the media registry at the Business Register Agency (APR). The REM decided to allocate the frequency on July 13, more than two years since the invitation for applications to provide analogue radio services was published.

“We don’t know when the new national radio will start broadcasting but the Kolorton Print company said that the target group is people “young at heart aged 7 to 77. The company has no media experience but managed to beat more experienced competition,” the UNS press release said.

REM Council chair Olivera Zekic told the Cenzolovka investigative news portal that the conditions to allocate national frequencies came into place only recently because the Council did not have a full complement until recently.

The REM and its governing body the Council have been a point of dispute between the Serbian authorities and opposition because of its influence over the media.