The Finance Committee Chairwoman Aleksandra Tomić said that the owner of United Group, Dragan Šolak, had been trying to ensure by force that his company, SBB, became the fourth mobile network operator in Serbia.
Tomić warned that, if Šolak were to enter the mobile network market, he would dent the competitive edge of the companies which are registered in Serbia and which – unlike United Group – pay taxes here.
She pointed out that Šolak started out in 2000 with a small telecommunications company, moving on to being a co-owner in a number of different funds, and eventually became one of the owners of the biggest media group in Serbia.
"All this is registered in tax-free locations, such as the Virgin Islands. What he needs now is the fourth operator in order to secure the funding and, ultimately, the media space in Serbia," Tomić said in Kurir Television's morning show.
The Finance Committee Chairwoman noted that United Group does not pay taxes in Serbia in the first place.
"We have a situation where none of the United Group's revenues, standing at 793 million euros last year, are taxable in Serbia, so the company's employees also don’t pay taxes in Serbia. Šolak is the majority owner of the offshore company, and owns 33 percent of United Group, which is registered in Slovenia."
Tomić added that it is very important for people to know in what sort of environment Šolak's groups operate.
"United Group is worth 3.28 billion euros. Šolak's personal wealth stands at 1.22 billion, and it's not us saying that but the Forbes list. He's wealthier than Miroslav Mišković or Miodrag Kostić. He's present on over 100 different platforms in Serbia via rebroadcasting. So, no broadcasting of programming, no registration with the Business Registers Agency, no paying taxes – it's all in Slovenia," Tomić said.
By way of a reminder, United Group has recently activated its well-oiled mechanism for attacking its competition and Serbia's state institutions because it ran into obstacles in its attempts to get into the mobile telephony market in Serbia by the back door, as a fourth mobile operator.
"It's an attempt to use this company and these media to get into the market as a fourth operator and so take over that space in the market. That's strong-arming it! It's an attempt to create an impression in the media to the effect that he needs to get what he asks for. He's been using rebroadcasting to make people believe that his company operates like any other company. He would dent the competitive edge of the companies which are based here and are paying taxes," Tomić remarked.
According to her, frequent ownership changes and problems justifying taxes point to a high level of corruption.
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"That's the first red flag, meaning that this sort of company should be investigated. The Commission for the Protection of Competition operates based on reports filed, when it's established that certain entities hinder competition, which is what he's citing. There's been a report against United Group, but our government couldn't respond then as they learnt that not a single Šolak's company was registered here. So, the government couldn't even make a statement regarding the issue as it was requesting information from the locations where the ownership of the company headquarters was registered. Under the law, if you're not registered here, you cannot obtain a permit for any sort of operation, in any market or activity," Tomić noted.
According to her, any company that hinders market competition ought to be penalized.
"Market competition means that you cannot engage in unfair practices. What matters most is complying with the law – when it's established that a company has engaged in anti-competitive practices, it must be fined. Fines range from 0 to 10 percent of the revenues, and the company must be broken up into three to four entities in a certain way, in order to decrease its 30-40 percent market share. Everyone must be equal in market competition," the Finance Committee Chairwoman added.
Tomić also touched on the fact that over one half of Serbia's population was unable to watch Serbia's decisive World Cup qualifier against Portugal.
"The fact that you couldn't watch the match between Serbia and Portugal best illustrates Šolak's greed. We can clearly see the ties between United Group and United Media, between Šolak and Dragan Đilas, and, consequently, also the attempt to snatch as big a slice of the political market as possible. We have the elections coming up, and a certain number of companies are bound to take part in it. This is an attempt to join the race with as big a head start as possible," Tomić said.
(Kurir.rs)
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