Lucic: Kurti wants to shut down MTS in Kosovo; we managed to avoid his trap

The CEO of Telekom Srbija, Vladimir Lucic, stated in an interview on TV Prva that the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, had a plan and goal to completely shut down MTS in Kosovo.

Lucic says that MTS has been operating in Kosovo for about a decade, in accordance with the Brussels Agreement, and that the company had no problems in its operations until Kurti came to power.

"MTS is the largest Serbian company in Kosovo, employing 250 people and providing internet and TV channels from Serbia to 30,000 households. We are one of the most important factors contributing to the attempt to create a normal life for the Serbs who have chosen to live in Kosovo and Metohija. Our company did not have major problems until Kurti's administration came. On August 4, they tried to shut us down completely and somehow hinted at what their main goal was. They want to shut down the largest Serbian company and investment in Kosovo. They are doing this with the help of Albanian mayors in the north, issuing permits for other operators who are now covering Northern Kosovo with their networks", Lucic said.

He emphasized that the Serbs showed that they were a tough nut to crack in August.

"The goal of Kurti's administration is obviously clear. After that attempt to shut down MTS, when we, with the help of the international community, managed to solve that problem and they withdrew the decision to shut us down; we face new challenges every week. They will never give up pressuring our company. We constantly have new battles. They warn us that we have to turn off some channels like RTS, Happy, or Pink because they allegedly broadcast unconstitutional content. We always legally defend ourselves because you cannot endanger media freedoms. In the rest of Serbia, we broadcast Croatian, Albanian, or channels from Sarajevo, and we have never censored them, nor has any regulator analyzed what these channels broadcast. In Kosovo, on the other hand, every week there are pressures on this issue to find some procedural mistake and try again to shut us down", Lucic emphasized.

He added that employees of the United Group always joined the attacks on the MTS company, and this had been evident this time regarding the re-registration of vehicles.

"The re-registration of vehicles is currently underway, and the Pristina Ministry of Internal Affairs is informing citizens about it. They sent a generic message through all operators. It was completely clear that we, as an operator, responsibly transmitted that message and did not change it because, in that case, they would again seek a reason to shut us down. However, the United Group created a spin that we, as Telekom, are calling people to re-register vehicles, which is a big lie. That's why I want to thank our employees in MTS because they are great Serbian heroes. Anyone who has been there knows how much these workers share the fate of all Serbs and how hard they try to continuously provide all services because they know it is essential for our citizens in Kosovo. These individual attacks by those media should not disturb them. This time we have again avoided Kurti's trap, and I believe that we will survive his administration. We will remain even stronger and solve even the issue of mobile telephony. They don't open a tender for this matter because they know we will be the strongest. We are working with the international community to resolve this so that we can be even more resilient in Kosovo", Lucic concluded.