TIRANA, July 8 – Serbia is looking to make its way into the economic sphere of Kosovo, similar to its efforts to purchase Telekom Albania last year.
Serbian media reported that Telekom Srbija has entered the second phase of the tender for the purchase of IPKO, the Kosovo telecommunications company owned by Telekom Slovenije. Moreover,seven other candidates who have expressed interest in this operator are competing with Telekom Srbija.
The company did not want to officially confirm the news, but in an earlier interview with the local Serbian newspaper ‘Blic’, Internet and multimedia coordinator at the Telekom Srbija Group, Vladimir Lucic said the group was extremely interested in the transaction. According to Lucic, there is no political reason after the offer submitted by Telekom Srbija, and the possible purchase of IPKO will contribute to the strategic goals of this operator.
“Our offer is not political, but naturally economic and very important for the achievemt of our goal to become a leading company in telecommunications. I do not understand the comparison of our offer with the offer we made two years ago in Albania. We operate currently in Kosovo as a based mobile phone operator, and I do not understand why anyone would be against another investment on our part. Moreover, this is to the benefit of consumers and the economy in this area. However, we will see how the situation will develop,” Lucic said.
State-owned company Telekom Srbija expects its market value to reach 4 billion euros in 2023, based on a high profit growth in the upcoming period, local media reports.
“The effects of our strategy will be seen this year, and then from 2021 to 2023 we will have a strong increase in profits,” Lucic added.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Pristina, Shpend Ahmeti, annouced to local media last month that Telekom Srbija had offered the value of 155 million euros for the purchase of IPKO Telecommunications in Kosovo.
“Telekom Srbija’s offer should have been blocked. A few years ago, Albanian Elvin Guri’s offer to buy Telenor Bank was blocked by Serbia’s central bank. This must be accepted!” Ahmeti said.
A year ago, Telekom Srbija made similar efforts to buy Telekom Albania in Albania, but they were later show down by the Albanian government. However, Pristina’s government is yet to act out in response to Serbia’s latest move to buy out IPKO and extend its influence in Kosovo’s telecommunications market.
