LJAJIC: I don’t expect Telekom to be sold in 2019

Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia Rasim Ljajic stated that he didn’t expect Telekom Srbija to be sold in 2019.

– I do not expect any development regarding the sale of Telekom. There has always been interest by various funds and companies. It all depends on the offer, but also on Telekom. It’s hard to say whether it will be a partnership or an agreement – Ljajic told Beta.

He believes that the recent acquisitions made by Telekom are in line with modern, market-oriented business.

Ljajic said that the local telecommunications market was following global trends, also marked by serious crises in which services like Viber and Skype caused a drop in revenues, forcing TC operators to find new ways to reach customers by offering new services.

– Telekom had to react too, because it would lose revenues and value otherwise – the minister said.

He said that the changes in Serbia’s TC market, such as Telekom’s acquisitions and the arrival of the Czech PPF, which took over Telenor Serbia, were good for customers, as the market competition should lead to an increase in the quality of offered services at more affordable prices.

– This is also useful from the aspect of investing in the infrastructure and the development of optical networks, as everyone will have to do it. It will contribute to the further development of the TC market and new technologies, primarily the high-speed internet and the 5G network, which is the future – Ljajic said.

Talking about the abolition of roaming, Ljajic said that “it hasn’t progressed far”.

– To the European Commission, the most important thing is for there to be an agreement on the regional roaming first, as an agreement on the regional roaming is planned to be signed at the next Digital Summit, which will be held in Belgrade – Ljajic said.

As he explained, the agreement currently exists between Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia, and the European Commission wants to also include Albania and Kosovo, which is now under question considering Pristina’s implementation of fees on goods from Serbia and B&H.

– The primary thing is for the agreement to happen, and once it does, the EC will start considering the lowering of the EU roaming prices. It seems to me that this will not happen any time soon – Ljajic told Beta.

Telekom Srbija a.d. Beograd

Ministarstvo turizma i omladine Republike Srbije

PPF Group N.V. Netherlands

Telekom Srbija

Ministry of Trade Tourism and Telecommunications

PPF fund

Rasim Ljajic

sale of Telekom

privatization of Telekom

Viber

Skype

crisis in telecommunications market

telecommunications market

abolition of roaming