The Luxembourg government, in a statement to Cenzolovka today, mentioned the possibility of «initiating sanctions proceedings» due to the change of directors of N1 and Nova television stations, as well as the weekly Radar and the Danas newspaper, before the relevant Luxembourg ministry approved the sale of these media to the Portuguese fund Alpak Kapital.
The state ministry of the government of Luxembourg, a member of the European Union, stated that it must approve any change in «control of a company by its shareholders», and that a change carried out without their approval could lead to «sanctions proceedings».
«Any change of control over a company by its reference shareholders is subject to prior approval by the Government. A change of control implemented without such prior approval may lead to the initiation of sanctions proceedings. We are currently awaiting a formal opinion from the (Luxembourg) regulatory authority ALIA before determining the next steps in the procedure,» the Luxembourg Government’s response reads, regarding the purchase of Adria News Network (ANN), currently still owned by the United Group.
ANN includes N1, Nova, Radar and Danas, which operate in Serbia, but also media outlets in other countries of the former Yugoslavia.
The response from the Media Service of the competent Ministry approving this transaction did not state what sanctions could be taken due to the manner in which the United Group’s media outlets in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia were taken over.
As Cenzolovka announced yesterday, the directors were replaced by email in an emergency procedure and new managers were appointed in their place, representatives of the Alpac Capital investment fund from Portugal, owned by Pedro Vargas Santos David.
He was also appointed director of the companies through which the largest Serbian independent media outlets operate – N1, Nova, Danas and Radar.
As stated in the response to Cenzolovka, the competent ministry service (SMC) will, before making a decision, await the opinion of the national regulatory body ALIA, which has referred the case to the European Media Services Committee (Media Committee).
«Both opinions will be considered with the utmost care and subjected to thorough assessment before the SMC makes any decision,» the response said.
Meanwhile, the European Commission told Outcry today that the European Media Services Board has begun forming an ad-hoc group that will examine the legality of what is happening with the media acquisition within ANN.
SMC told Cenzolovka that they cannot comment further on this case, as it is currently under review.
The Serbian Ministry of Information and Telecommunications today sent an open letter to the new director of N1, Nova, Radar and Danas, Pedro Vargas David.
In it, the Ministry identifies the regulator from Luxembourg (ALIA) as the body that is now «causing Vargas David the greatest problems», because it is «conspicuously prolonging and hesitating with issuing approval, without any explanation or justification».
However, ALIA does not issue any approval, but only an opinion for the Luxembourg government, which is not binding, but advisory, and the final decision is made by the competent service of the Luxembourg Government, Cenzolovka points out.
ALIA yesterday gave a statement to Cenzolovka that their assessment of the change of ownership of ANN is underway. As part of this, ALIA is also examining the effects of the transaction on editorial independence and media pluralism, in accordance with the new obligations introduced by the European Media Freedom Act.
Cenzolovka’s analysis of previous opinions by the Luxembourg regulator shows that this body is already familiar with the state of media freedoms and the pressures on the United Group’s media in Serbia.
Approvals from competition protection authorities are also missing. According to the purchase agreement, this transaction must also be approved by the competition protection authorities in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as reported by Raskrikavanje.
The Competition Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina approved this transaction in July, in relation to the television stations N1 BiH and Nova BH, Avaz.ba reports. However, this decision has not yet been officially announced.
According to information from June, the Montenegrin Agency for the Protection of Competition is currently conducting a procedure regarding a request for approval of a concentration involving several local media companies, including Daily Press and Televizija Vijesti.
The public has not been informed about the decision and the review process of the Serbian Competition Commission, Cenzolovka points out.
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