New Serbian Media Sell-Offs Raise Concerns

A total of 28 media outlets will be offered for sale in the next round of privatisations which should be concluded by the end of the October, the Journalists' Association of Serbia said.

Another 22 media outlets will be shut down or transferred to their employees free of charge.

Three state-owned radio companies have also decided to switch off their signals - Radio Yugoslavia, Radio Television Cuprija and Radio Leskovac.

Another five opted to transfer their capital to their employees in the form of free shares - Radio Television Vranje, Radio Television Bor, Radio Television Presevo, Tutin TV and Smederevo TV.

During the first round of the state-owned media privatisation in Serbia, which started on August 6, 22 out of 72 media outlets got new owners.

Nino Brajovic from the Journalists' Association of Serbia told BIRN that the Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering, part of the Serbian finance ministry, should check the origin of money which was used in the recent privatisations.

Brajovic said that Radoica Milosavljevic, a businessman from central Serbian town of Krusevac, attracted the most attention in the first round, buying eight media outlets and announcing that he wanted to buy three more.

"At the same time, Milosavljevic refused to announce more details about the purchases and it raised questions about whether he is going to run the media outlets in accordance with the public interest," said Brajovic.

According to the Journalists' Association of Serbia, Milosavljevic spent around 281,280 euros on eight local television stations.

Some media have alleged that Milosavljevic had political motives when he decided to buy the companies.

But Milosavljevic denied he was connected to any...