Serbian Government decided to sell 40% of Telekom

The Government of Serbia made the decision on Friday (March 26, 2010) to sell 40% of stocks of Telekom Srbija, which are in the possession of the state.

- The Government made the decision on sale because of the importance of the telecommunications sector to further development of Serbia, increasingly expressed and strong competition in that area and the need for larger investments with the aim of keeping the pace with the accelerated technological development - it was announced after the meeting of the Government of Serbia.

Serbian Government will announce the tender for selection of the privatization adviser, and the plan is that the adviser be selected within next 90 days. The special commission under the authority of the Ministry of Finance will be in charge of the selection of the privatization adviser. The State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Slobodan Ilić, will be on the head of that commission.

The Government of Serbia recommended to the Administrative Board of public company PTT Srbija, which now owns 80% of stocks of Telekom, to transfer those stocks to the Republic of Serbia free of charge.

Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković earlier said that the tender would be announced, followed by the auction, pointing out that the procedure would be similar to the one when Mobtel had been sold.

He estimated that the percentage of Telecom's stocks that would be offered for sale had been "excellently selected" to attract as many interested buyers as possible and ensure the real competition. The state will, as Cvetković explained, keep its minority share and also attract strategic partner who will ensure further development of that telecommunications company through investments.

The state owns 80% of Telekom Srbija through PTT Srbija, while 20% are in the possession of Greek company OTE, 30% of which are owned by Deutsche Telekom.