Lucic: We request the Competition Authority in Pristina to suspend the proceedings against MTS until further notice

CEO of Telekom Srbija, Vladimir Lucic, stated today from Pristina, where he will have discussions with the ambassadors of the United States and the European Union, that he expected the international community to influence the Competition Authority to suspend the proceedings against MTS until further notice and for this company to obtain a third license.

The Kosovo Competition Authority fined the MTS company - a branch of Telekom in Kosovo, with a financial penalty of over 1.5 million euros for the alleged unlawful takeover of a cable operator, which is the reason for today's meetings between representatives of MTS and the international community in Pristina. Lucic adds that he will also meet with the Ambassador of Great Britain next Monday.

"We have initiated legal proceedings and are asking the Competition Authority to suspend the proceedings until further notice, until the legal dispute is resolved, and to finally grant us the third license," Lucic said.

He emphasized that he wanted to point out that the Competition Authority did not respect local laws.

"Behind this is not only the financial penalty but an attempt to review the four cable operators that we merged in 2019, according to the new law that they deliberately changed just because of us. We want to point out that the Competition Authority does not respect local laws, that laws are interpreted when it comes to a Serbian company in one way, and when it comes to other companies, completely differently," Lucic said.

The goal, he emphasized, was to provide additional assistance to the subsidiary company operating in Kosovo to resolve the pressure exerted by the Pristina administration.

"You were witnesses to the attempt in August to disconnect our company, which we managed to successfully resolve with the support of the international community. However, the pressure continues. Of course, realizing that they cannot disconnect our company, they try to limit and hinder our company's operations," Lucic said.

He emphasized that MTS had requested the exemption of the Director of the Kosovo Competition Authority.

"I hope that the international community, which well understands the importance of the independence of the Competition Authority, will stand on our side and resolve this issue," Lucic said, adding that the intimidation of MTS workers was unacceptable.

"In December, we had a case where a regular commission of the Telecommunications Agency, accompanied by the police with long guns, entered our center in Zvecan and stayed for several hours. This is classic intimidation of workers and is unprecedented in European practice," Lucic said.

He added that the international community was now being put to the test.

"If they allow the Pristina administration to interpret the laws they have enacted in this way, preventing the largest Serbian company from operating here, and knowing how important we are, not only because we have 250 employees but also because we provide internet for 30,000 households and television, then what else can other Serbian companies expect? I hope the international community will understand, and we will finally resolve this problem," Lucic said.

He emphasized that MTS was also trying to solve the issue of the third license.

"You know that we have this temporary permit, that the tender for the third license should have been announced long ago, but it hasn't because it is known that we will win. We already have an issue with mobile telephony; we have a limited number of base stations. Even in Serbian parts, citizens feel that," Lucic said.