The Serbian state-run Telekom Srbija was close to completing the purchase of a 20 percent stake in itself from Deutsche Telekom’s Greek unit OTE, the country’s prime minister said on Tuesday.
“It’s almost a done deal, but i would not like to disclose all the details as the agreement is not inked yet,” Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic told reporters.
Gaining full control over Telekom Srbija would make it easier for Belgrade to push ahead with long-delayed plans to find a new investor for the company.
Cvetkovic said Serbia will not cover the purchase from its budget and that the country will not borrow at home or abroad to raise the funds.
Earlier this year, Serbian media reported Telekom Srbija was offering 300 million euros ($404.04 million) for the deal. Cvetkovic told reporters that “the figure was not right, but it is somewhere around (that sum).”
OTE acquired its Telekom Srbija holding in 1997. In May, Belgrade rejected a 1.1 billion euro offer by Austria’s Telekom Austria to buy a 51 percent stake in the company.
Serbia had asked potential buyers to pay at least 1.4 billion euros.
OTE had said as early as December 2010 that it was ready to sell its Serbia stake to any new investor to use the proceeds to either reduce debt or invest in development.
