08. 08. 2006

BK ACCUSES PINK AND BROADCASTING AGENCY

BELGRADE, August 8, 2006 (B92/Beta) - BK TV’s editor-in-chief Milomir Marić accused Pink TV owner of co-owning several television stations in Serbia. Meanwhile the conflict between BK and Nenad Cekić continued. Bogoljub Karić’s television accuses Cekić of having deliberately misled to the public when he told B92 that he was unaware of the Pink-Košava financial transaction. “I will now show you something that is a secret, but I am ready to reveal it: this is the Agency document on Košava TV and when you go to page 15, you see a 15 million dinar payment, Right on the next page you can see the certificate on the 18 million dinars payment made by Pink TV to Košava’s account, and now Cekić says he was unaware”, Miodrag Popov, one of BK TV editors told the press. Cekić’s response was that Popov’s and Marić’s behavior was unacceptable. “Neither I nor the Agency members knew about the document’s existence. And anyhow we didn’t have to know – that is a job for the Finance police or the Finance ministry. This document is not even relevant under the Broadcasting law”, Cekić told B92. Milomir Marić claims that the goings-on related to the frequency allocation, and the Pink TV transactions, represent proof-positive that the Pink owner, Željko Mitrović, also owns or has the influence over several television stations in the country, directly violating the Broadcasting law: “Pink and Košava have the same production manager. Košava’s news studio is owned by Mitrović. He is in business with many outlets”. Cekić for his part believes this not to be a case of “media concentration”: “Marić should read the law, since it says this is not concentration unless Mitrović officially owns or co-owns several television stations. There is no controversy here. We will monitor the situation and if there is any irregularity, we will react”. Pink TV declined to comment on Marić’s accusations, since Željko Mitrović has called a press conference for tomorrow. Pink loan business as usual There seems to have been nothing strange in the case of the RTV Pink loan to TV Košava. “This is a normal approach of mutual help from members of an association. Our members are obligated to help each other out with programming, technically and financially, within the bounds of the law, and this is why the association was founded,” The Association of Professions Broadcasters of Serbia stated. “Mutual assistance and loans occurred in other cases as well, and such solidarity is what will continue to be one of the basic principles of the APRES,” the Association states.