The authorities in Pristina are violating all principles of the rule of law in their pursuit of Telekom Srbija

The Kosovo authorities claim that the Telekom Srbija Company violated the law, which was not in force at all during the period to which these claims relate, and at the same time, as stated by those familiar with the case, Pristina was making public information that fell under the domain of business secrets. The campaign against Telekom Srbija is completely contrary to the rule of law and all international standards.

This can be concluded after the research conducted by Kosovo Online regarding the official statement from the Kosovo Competition Authority that "the branch of Telekom Srbija in Kosovo (Mts) acted contrary to the applicable law", i.e. that "Mts did not submit the necessary documentation to the Antimonopoly Authority and based on that it bought at least four small operators, the total value of which is more than 20 million euros".

"The case is in the final stage of the investigation," acting Director of the Kosovo Competition Authority Selajdin Beqa told RTK.

This continued the campaign of pressure on the Telekom Srbija company in Kosovo, which has been happening for the second week, even with the announcement that this largest telecommunications company in the Western Balkan region will be banned from doing business in Kosovo.

According to insiders, Telekom has found itself at the epicenter of absurd judicial persecution, where there is no rule of law, no common sense, and no elementary logic. They add that the retroactive application of the law is completely inconsistent with all European and international legal standards.

In particular, they apostrophize that the actions of the Kosovo regulatory bodies against Mts D.O.O. cast a shadow on the climate for normal business and investment in Kosovo, because now one company that they declared undesirable is under attack, on the next occasion it will be another one.

Namely, at the end of November 2022, the Kosovo Competition Authority Agency launched an investigation in connection with the acquisition of four small cable operators by Telekom's company "Mts D.O.O.". In the period 2019 - 2021, Mts bought operators: VGN Net from North Mitrovica (December 2019), Impuls from Leposavic (December 2019), Lika from Zvecan (March 2020), and Herc International from Strpce (March 2021).

During that period, the Law on the Protection of Competition (No. 03/L-229) was in force in Kosovo, in accordance with which Mts operated properly and according to which it had no obligation to report these acquisitions at all!

Namely, according to that law, the necessary condition for reporting to the Kosovo Competition Authority is not fulfilled, which is that at least two participants in the capital concentration have incomes over 3 million euros per year. None of the cable operators that Mts acquired meets that requirement!

It is absurd that the authorities in Pristina, i.e. their Authority, launched an investigation against Mts based on the new Law on the Protection of Competition, which entered into force in June 2022, i.e. half a year after the last acquisition, and two and a half years after the first acquisitions.

Therefore, the law under which Telekom is charged was not in force at all at the time when the acquisitions were realized!

Manipulation of interpretations

As we learn, during the investigative procedure, the impression was gained that the Commission will try to interpret the condition "minimum two operators have more than three million euros" so that both operators in total have more than three million euros, and not that both (one and the other) individually have more than 3 million.

There is every chance that there is a real danger of violating the basic principles of the rule of law, that is, that the Kosovo authorities and their Competition Authority are trying to apply laws retroactively, which is contrary to basic human rights, established at the international and European level.

Also, this casts a shadow over the climate for normal business operations and investment in Kosovo, because now one company is under attack, which the authorities in Pristina have declared undesirable, on the next occasion there will be another one...

The media statements of the acting director of the Authority, that he prejudges a negative decision for MTS before the final decision, unfortunately do not indicate the objective work of this regulatory body, according to those familiar with this problem.

As they add, a special scandal is the fact that Mr. Beqa disclosed in an official statement data that fell into the category of protected, concerning the value of the purchase of small operators by Mts, which grossly violated the principle of confidentiality of business information, which also speaks very badly of the business climate and legal instability prevailing in Kosovo.

The CEO of Telekom Srbija, Vladimir Lucic, recently told the daily Politika that Mts D.O.O. operated conscientiously, transparently and in accordance with relevant local regulations from the first day of its establishment onwards.

"Mts D.O.O. is a convincing leader in the territory it covers, with the most employees and the largest number of investments, and the unfounded and violent shutdown of such a company would lead to a serious aggravation and such a very difficult situation that goes beyond all business frameworks and shows a gross violation of the Brussels Agreement. More than 250 employees are employed in our daughter company, which has been successfully operating for almost a decade and which was founded in accordance with the Brussels Agreement, respecting all the agreed items. This means that we as a company take care of about 1,000 residents in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, providing a permanent employment relationship. and a source of livelihood for their families. We are a good example of a company that employs people in that territory, and thus takes care of people, but also provides the basic necessities of life - to be in contact with the rest of the world," Lucic said on that occasion.

Pristina is trampling on its own regulations and agreements from the dialogue

Let us remind you that the Kosovo Business Registration Agency previously canceled the registration certificate of Mts D.O.O., a subsidiary of Telekom Srbija in Kosovo, with the explanation that one member of the management of that company has a passport issued by the Republic of Serbia! The Telekom Srbija company announced that this was not in accordance with legal regulations, and that it violated the agreements reached as a part of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, including the Brussels Agreement. Telekom also said that in all official documents, all members of the management of Mts D.O.O. use Kosovo documents. Telekom also announced that the decision of the Kosovo Business Registration Agency was still unenforceable and that it would file an appeal within the legally prescribed period of 30 days.

Based on everything, it can be concluded that the actions of the Kosovo regulatory bodies against Mts D.O.O. cast a shadow on the climate for normal business and investment in Kosovo, because now one company that they declared undesirable is under attack, on the next occasion it will be another one.