Lucic: Kurti's administration aims to prevent the expansion of Telekom, violating the Brussels Agreement

The General Director of Telekom Serbia, Vladimir Lucic, stated today that the latest attacks on the company in Kosovo and the fine of one and a half million euros aimed to prevent the expansion of Telekom in Kosovo, as reported by RTV.

"In August, Kurti's administration wanted to ban us, but with the help of the international community, we efficiently and favorably resolved that, and now they have moved on to plan B – to prevent our expansion," Lucic said on the Morning Program of RTS.

He added that the hindrance to expansion related not only to new acquisitions but also to old ones from 2019.

"At that time, we wanted to take over small cable operators from Serbian enclaves because we believe it is essential for the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija to have a secure network. According to the law, we were not obliged to report these small acquisitions to the Competition Protection Agency, and in the meantime, they changed the law only because of us, and now they practically want to apply it retroactively," he stated.

Lucic expressed confidence that Telekom Serbia would succeed this time as well, just as it had succeeded in August, because, as he said, the European Commission closely monitored the work of competition protection commissions.

"They always attack us before the holidays because they think that, since the American and European administrations are on vacation, we will not be able to organize ourselves. However, Kurti's administration will, for the second time, learn that it cannot harass us as much as it thinks it can," Lucic emphasized.

He stressed that the attack on Telekom represented a violation of the Brussels Agreement and noted that this company in Kosovo employs 250 people who were constantly facing problems, such as the recent raid by the Telecommunications Agency with the police at the Data Center in Zvecan, where they had sought certain data.

Lucic said that Telekom would receive a third license in Kosovo next year and expand.

Speaking about the company's plans for the next year, he said that 2024 would be a significant confirmation of Telekom's victory, and they would expand into the US market.

"This year we became an operator in Germany and Turkey, and next year we will expand to the United States. We will cover 600 million people in 11 countries," Lucic highlighted.