30. 11. 2005

PRIVATISATION OF MEDIA IN SERBIA

CACAK, November 30, 2005– Around 141 media in Serbia awaits the privatisation, out of which 37 print, 14 individual and 23 combined media outlets. The deadline for the privatisation of electronic media is extended to the end of 2007, and for the print media to April 2006. The decision of the managing board of the “Cacanski glas”, composed of Radio Cacak, TV Cacak and “Cacanski glas” newspaper, to divide this publishing and media public company into two separate companies, represents the first step toward the privatisation of this state-owned local media outlet. The reorganization of the company envisaged the privatisation of the newspaper Cacanski glas by the end of April 23, 2006. The new company would operate independently from the RTV. This way, the independent radio and television media outlet, which is predicted to be more attractive for potential buyers as an individual company, will bi privatized by the end of 2007. The decision of the managing board to separate the print and electronic media outlets was supported by the members of the ruling coalition of the local parliament. Unlike them, the members of the opposition decided to walkout of the session of the local council, refusing, as they stated, to take part in something that could lead to the closedown of a newspaper with the 73 year old tradition. The members of the opposition, consisted of the local civil group “For Cacak” and Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), stated that the argument of the leaders of the municipal media outlet, that it was necessary to first change the status of the house and then to enter the process of privatisation, was unsound. Chief of the Socialist Party local council, Veljko Negovanovic, said that the Privatisation Act clearly stipulated that the privatisation ought to be done within the envisaged deadline, regardless of the changes in status. “Whether the status changes occur or not, the privatisation of the municipal media outlet is something that must be done. Obviously the management or the local government haven’t thought about who would be ready to buy the papers, when it is not yet clear if the papers own something. What if the consortium of employees doesn’t work out? I believe the things have started to evolve in wrong direction and it is a matter of time when we loose the papers, and then radio, like we’ve already lost the second program of Radio Cacak, only to privatize the television in the end, which is basically the most attractive media for future buyers”, said Negovanovic. Member of the local “For Cacak” civil group Branislav Lazovic sees the status changes as the strategic move of the ruling coalition, New Serbia political party before all, to keep full control of the television (which is also called “The Veljavision” by the local opposition), in the upcoming pre-electoral campaign in 2007. From the outset, the editorial policy of TV Cacak has been constantly criticized by the local opposition. There have also been many objections to the ways of financing of the local media, considering that more than 20 million dinars have been secured from this year’s budget for their operations. In the mean time, the rebalance of the local budget secured another 1.5 million dinars for this local media, envisaged to cover the relocation expenses of Radio Cacak. In the end, the funds were used for the salaries.