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The Serbian Telecommunications Market Is the Latest Target of PPF

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The Serbian Telecommunications Market Is the Latest Target of PPF The Serbian telecommunications market is the latest target of PPF Branches within the PPF investment group are trying to enter telecommunications networks in Central and Eastern Europe or buy shares of the same, often aligning their goals with the interests of the government, writes Visegrad Insight. In Serbia, the business and investment conglomerate PPF has a strategy of harmonizing its business with the interests of the government, which gives PPF’s telecommunications company Telenor political and business advantages, according to Visegrad Insight. The Serbian opposition called on the founder of the PFF and the Czech billionaire Petar Kellner to withdraw from the activities that give the pro-government Telekom Srbija an advantage on the market and which violate EU norms. Telekom Srbija is managed by the people of the Serbian ruling party SNS, and that company is also present on the markets of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro. The latest news that the state-owned company has entered into a business partnership with PPF’s telecommunications network Telenor is another example of PPF’s long-term strategic approach in many ways. Under an arrangement called for by Telekom Srbija’s management in internal documents reported by Serbian N1 or Broadband TV News (Visegrad Insight also had access to documents), the Serbian state-owned operator would give Telenor access to telecommunications infrastructure to increase its own revenues and customer base. In the end, that would also mean that the market share of Telekom Srbija’s competitor, SBB, will be reduced to below 30 percent. The two companies have been in conflict for some time, but the mentioned plans are written in unambiguous language and are deliberately attacking SBB. A significant turnaround in the power relationship PPF companies seek access to or acquisition of shares in telecommunications networks in other countries in the wider region, primarily in the Czech Republic, where PPF actually owns the country’s telecommunications infrastructure through the CETIN group, PPF’s sister company. CETIN attracted the attention of local media when it planned to develop a 5G network in cooperation with Huawei, before it decided to enter into a partnership with Ericsson after a wave of criticism and security issues. Recently, PPF’s mobile phone operator O2 won the largest share of 5G frequencies at a public auction in which the other two main operators won shares, but also two new actors owned by former PPF associates. “In the case of Telekom Srbija, the cooperation with PPF’s Telenor represents a practically unbreakable marriage of business and politics. Journalists and media analysts warn of a major turnaround in the balance of power to the detriment of SBB or N1 media channels, which are often used by opposition politicians to criticize the government of Aleksandar Vucic.” The Serbian telecommunications market is the latest target of PPF Vucic himself was a cause for concern due to the dominance of the Serbian media scene and illiberal tendencies. Although Serbian opposition politicians have sharply criticized the arrangement, events have not gone unnoticed in Slovenia, where the PPF controls key media outlets through Central European Media Enterprises (CME). Peter Kellner paid a personal visit to the controversial Prime Minister Jansa in December, when the international journalistic community criticized him for shameless attacks on public media services and media that are not on the line of his political party SDS. Concerns about priorities In the Czech Republic, meanwhile, the PPF has consistently promised to avoid engaging in politics or, faced with a situation such as the conspicuous Jansa-Kellner meeting, has chosen to defend itself with a wall of silence. This was perhaps most evident in October last year, following the green light for the acquisition of CME by the European Commission, when international media organizations expressed concern over the concentration of media power in the hands of the PPF in an open letter to Peter Kellner. PPF Group responded that the company “believes in freedom, democracy, entrepreneurship, professionalism and pluralism of opinion”. The arrangement with the Serbian state-owned telecommunications company is the latest example of PPF’s constantly recurring business strategy. This group has a history of doing business in countries with an unenviable state of media freedoms, such as China and Russia. When there is an opportunity to expand the business with the help and influence of politics, PPF is always ready to participate, N1 reports..
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