Lucic: With U.S. support, we expect a solution to discrimination against Telekom in Kosovo

The CEO of Telekom Srbija, Vladimir Lucic, stated that he expects assistance from the new U.S. administration in resolving the issues the company is facing in Kosovo, where, according to him, the Pristina institutions are implementing a discriminatory policy against Telekom because it is majority-owned by the state of Serbia, RTV reports.

Speaking to Pink TV, he emphasized that the arrival of the U.S. Export-Import Bank is an excellent signal for economic cooperation and that the bank will finance other American projects in Serbia, facilitating the arrival of new American investments as well.

Lucic also reminded that Telekom Srbija is the first operator in this part of the Balkans to have a contract with the European Investment Bank, which is also helping to finance the 5G network in Serbia.

"I think it’s a big deal that we are bringing them to Serbia, it will provide extremely good financing for all the American products we implement in the 5G rollout," Lucic said.

Speaking about how cooperation with American partners could help Telekom resolve its challenges in Kosovo, Lucic said he is confident the new U.S. administration will provide support, noting that relations between the U.S. and Serbia have clearly improved thanks to President Aleksandar Vucic.

"We had excellent relations with the previous administration as well, and with the current one, we should take advantage of the fact that we share similar views on many global issues," said Lucic.

He added that he is explaining to the American side that there is a “black spot” in Europe where the Pristina institutions are violating the law by discriminating against Telekom Srbija because it is a company majority-owned by the Serbian state.

Speaking about Telekom's platform, which has integrated many channels and now offers nearly all sports channels in one place, Lucic expressed satisfaction that Telekom emerged victorious from a major commercial dispute as United Group exited the market.

"After almost 19 years, we managed to resolve the issue that had always limited viewers in accessing certain sports. Not only did United Group withdraw, but we also took over Sport Klub in the Western Balkans. We made the channels available to our competitors as well, so that content battle is now over, and users can finally watch all the sports content," Lucic said.

He added that this has significantly reduced the cost of sports content and announced that Arena will have four additional sports channels by September.