Serbia Puts 47 State-Owned Media on Sale

Serbia said the sale of 47 state-owned media outlets will be completed by October - although around 30 had not applied for sale after the deadline set by the government to do so had passed.

Shares in those media outlets that have not applied for sale but are not in negative financial state will be divided among the employees.

Those in a poor financial situation, or which have not yet started the privatization process, will be shut down.

The most important media outlets that have applied for sale are Tanjug news agency, the Novi Sad-based daily Dnevnik and Television Studio B, which is seen as one of the symbols of the Serbian capital.

Dnevnik tops the list as the most expensive media outlet for sale. The starting price for Dnevnik's shares is 7.3 million euros.

Tanjug is next on the list with a starting price of 761,000 euros. TV Petrovac na Mlavi and Studio B follow with prices of 600,000 and 500,000 euros respectively.

The public company Novi Knezevac is the cheapest media outlet going on sale with a starting price of only 235 euros.

The government says media privatization is an important part of the pre-accession process with the European Union that will enable Belgrade to open Chapters 23 and 24 of the negotiations on the judiciary, human rights and the media.

The decision to withdraw from media ownership was made under the explanation that it would bring Serbia closer to EU standards.

However, it also reflects pressure coming from private media owners who say the public media unfairly receive money from the budget at the same as being allowed to earn money on a commercial basis.

Ivan Tasovac, Serbia's Culture and Information Minister, said he wanted the privatization process to run smoothly and media...