25. 04. 2006

KOJADINOVIC TO DEMAND ANNULMENT OF FREQUENCY COMPETITION

BELGRADE, April 25, 2006 – Culture and Media Minister Dragan Kojadinovic told Belgrade 202 that he would urge the Serbian Government to annul the competition for allocation of national frequencies next week. Kojadinovic also said the results of the competition proved that the decisions of the Broadcast Agency Council were not independent at all. “National TV frequencies prove my allegation. I don’t lobby for nor am I interested in any particular television station. However, I believe that the non-existing stations simply cannot be awarded frequency for national coverage. If you look carefully at the competition results for both radio and TV stations, you will see that there were several non-existent stations. How’s that possible? It is utterly unclear why the Council had not provided any explanation for such decision. I have to repeat that I am not in favor of any station. All I am interested in is a principle, which is very important at the time when the grounds for the Serbian broadcasting system should be set up.” Kojadinovic added that the appeal should be forwarded to the Serbian Government by next Thursday, despite the fact that the Government was not competent for the operations of the Broadcast Council. However, the minister believes that the recommendation of the Government could be very important.