Telekom is one of the state-owned companies that may pose a risk to Serbia’s public debt in the coming years, Milojko Arsic, a professor at the Faculty of Economics, told N1. Journalists who have been researching for years what Telekom spends on and how much money, explain that the company protects its business from the public. And the SNS deputies from the Assembly say that it is the opposition that wants to destroy Telecom.
And is Telekom destroying itself, perhaps? Because how else to ask yourself if the company’s debt is growing along with investments.
“We witnessed that the company overpaid some operators it bought, that it paid a price many times higher than the market price, that it probably had a political order to strengthen media control through its investments for the needs of the current government,” said Professor Arsic.
When you ask a question about such business, there is no answer from Telekom. There are only interpretations that they are not obliged to act according to the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance. Numerous transactions remain secret.
“Because when they sign these contracts, with those smaller operators, they conclude one main contract that remains secret, and in APR you can find another contract that says everything except the figure that was paid, so some hundreds of millions of euros or more are probably in question,” says Marija Vučić, a journalist from the Raskrikavanje portal.
The management of Telekom claims that this year it will profit twice as much as last year – 100 million euros. On the other hand, opposition politician Marinika Tepic claims that in the last few months, this company has been borrowong money so that it can share salaries.
“Is this already happening? I don’t have any insider information from Telekom. Such rumors come to me – that they occasionally have problems with liquidity, but what is indisputable is that the previous waste of money has burdened the company with debts, and if it continues like this in the future, then the problems will be bigger,” says Professor Arsić.
They do not see those problems in the ruling party. At the time intended for parliamentary questions for the competent institutions in the Assembly, SNS deputies state that the opposition is leading a campaign against Telekom.
“One of the most important state institutions that Serbia, led by Aleksandar Vučić, has preserved and strengthened, and that is that some politicians want to destroy it,” said MP Uglješa Mrdić from the parliamentary group “Aleksandar Vučić – for our children”.
The expert public believes that the question is far more important than political skirmishes – is Telekom, like EPS, Srbijagas, Air Serbia turning into a risk for Serbia’s public debt? N1 reports.
