Lucic: Hovenier takes a stand for truth and justice with his statement about MTS

The General Director of "Telekom Srbija," Vladimir Lucic, emphasized today that the problems in the operation of the company in Kosovo had arisen with the arrival of Albin Kurti to power, as until then, Pristina institutions had respected the Brussels Agreement. He added that he was encouraged by the statement of the US Ambassador in Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, who, as he said, had stood on the side of truth and justice.

"Our main problems in Kosovo and Metohija arise with Kurti coming to power. Until then, we had fair cooperation with institutions in Pristina that respected the Brussels Agreement, and our operations in Kosovo and Metohija were regulated by that document," Lucic explained for Pink.

He said that with Kurti coming to power, synchronized attacks on MTS had begun, which had culminated in the largest attack in recent months.

He pointed out that the Pristina authorities wanted to erase MTS from the local business registry.

Lucic emphasized that those attacks had a lead-in, and he reminded that three months ago, Kurti had started to confront not only MTS and the Serbian people but also his opposition.

In this regard, he mentioned the attempt to shut down Klan Kosova Television under the pretext that the registered list stated the Republic of Serbia, a move that the international community, with protests from journalists, had managed to prevent.

"To alleviate pressure from Klan Kosova and show that the action targets multiple companies, he made a decision against 15 companies, including MTS. Two weeks ago, we received a very strange document to remove us from the business registry, where we were registered following their procedure, with Kosovo documents, on the grounds that one of our employees was once identified with a document stating Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia. The absurdity is that our company is being dissolved because supposedly some management member has an invalid document," he explained.

Lucic pointed out that concurrently, additional actions of revising the purchases of small cable operators were taking place.

"When I hear the Director of the Competition Protection Agency - he acts as if he is the Director of the Competition Prohibition Agency. He personally conducts a campaign against us," he added.

As Lucic said, the director of that Agency goes on television and discloses business secrets, and without decisions, speaks about MTS's alleged unethical conduct.

"We have chaos in how the Pristina administration behaves towards MTS. The behavior towards MTS is evidence of what they are ready for," he emphasized.

Lucic explained that MTS purchased those cable operators in 2019 and 2020, when the old law had been in force, allowing the purchase of small operators without notifying the Agency.

"They changed the law specifically to slow us down because they saw our expansion," he believes, adding that a law cannot be applied retroactively.

As he assessed, the clear goal of Kurti's government is to try to shut down MTS, which would be a gross violation of the Brussels Agreement, which regulates not only MTS's operations in Kosovo but also many other things, including the Kosovo dialing code.

He warned that shutting down MTS in Kosovo would leave 30,000 families without signal, internet, and communication with the rest of Serbia, causing a scandal that would significantly distress the citizens living in that territory and further encourage them to leave.

"MTS is the latest significant investment they are trying to remove. All these attempts are legally weak," he concluded.

Lucic said that MTS had informed the international community and all embassies in Pristina about the government's measures.

He pointed out that MTS had excellent cooperation with the US Embassy in Kosovo and that he was greatly encouraged by Ambassador Jeffrey Hovenier's statement that Pristina must exercise caution in the case of MTS.

"It's clear he's standing on the side of truth and justice, and the irreparable damage that would occur not only to MTS," Lucic emphasized.

He stated that MTS would not voluntarily cut off the signal because the papers received from Kosovo authorities were legally null and void.

He reiterated that this was a synchronized attack by Kurti and those who flatter him, and he mentioned that the mayor of North Mitrovica had turned the entrance to MTS into a public parking lot.

"We are the only serious operator in Kosovo, and sooner or later, we will be in a position where they will have to offer us to operate throughout the entire territory," he emphasized.

Lucic said that the most logical outcome of the current situation was for the competent judiciary to consider MTS's appeal.