07. 04. 2014

GOVERNMENT SAVES ‘NOVOSTI’ TO SELL THEM

However, the chances are big that the deadline for media privatization will be extended considering that the media laws have not been adopted yet.

Despite the Media Strategy and new media laws which should be adopted and envisage withdrawal of the state from media ownership, the unification of these firms was agreed on the joint session of the supervisory and executive boards of the Company ‘Novosti', ‘Štamparija Borba', and the representatives of the trade unions of both companies.

The initiative for creating a unified Company ‘Novosti' was initiated by the First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić in a meeting with general directors of the Company ‘Novosti' and ‘Štamparija Borba' and the president of the Supervisory Board of ‘Štamparija Borba', held on 28 March 2014.

By merging these three enterprises, that state would become, based on the current ownership structure, a majority owner of the new company. Company ‘Borba' is owned by the state, and so is 80% of the capital of ‘Štamparija Borba', while some 62% of the capital of the Company ‘Novosti' is privately owned.

„In the latest meeting with the First Deputy Prime Minister it was concluded that the only exit from this situation is the attempt to, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, turn the debt of the Company 'Novosti' towards 'Štamparija Borba' into state shares in 'Novosti'. This would make the state the majority owner of 'Novosti'. A unified Company 'Novosti' would then be formed by merging the Company 'Borba', Company 'Novosti' and 'Štamparija Borba'. Its majority owner would be the state. In this way a healthy company would be formed which could be offered in the market and privatized", said Momir Stojanović, president of the Supervisory Board of 'Štamparija Borba'.

Dragana Čabarkapa, president of the Journalists' Trade Union, states for 'Danas' that this move by the state is a „salvation at the last moment" considering that 'Novosti' would go bankrupt otherwise.

"The state saved the Company ‘Novosti'. Unfortunately, it saved it now in order to sell it later. The Journalists' Trade Union of Serbia is against the privatization of media because we think that the state is a much better employer than private owners.

The best option are shareholders' associations, where the ownership would be divided between the local self-autonomy or the state and the employees, Čabarkapa explained. According to her, this is a temporary solution in order to protect 850 employees.

On the other hand, journalists' associations repeatedly state that the state must pull out from the media. The president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) Vukašin Obradović said to ‘Danas' that if the news is true that the state will become a majority owner of ‘Novosti' by taking over the debt to the printing press, he must reiterate that the Media Strategy clearly defines the exit of the state from media ownership and not its further strengthening as a media owner.

"The solution for ‘Novosti' must be looked for in a different way. In this way a private company is brought to a privileged position over others that also have debts towards the printing press", Obradović stressed.

Nino Brajović, secretary general of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), thinks that the state is not a good media owner and that it must exist media ownership due to unfair competition in the media market.

However, he said that the announced ownership transformation of ‘Novosti' could be a temporary financial salvation of the daily, but he also warned of the danger that the state does not give up easily on managing media.