Serbian Battle Over Mobile Phone Operator

London (ots/PRNewswire) - With Serbia still smarting from its
recent set-back with the EU following its failure to hand over
suspected war criminals to The Hague and the decision by Montenegro
to become an independent state, the Serbian Government now has
another fight on its hands, this time involving the country's leading
mobile telephone operator Mobtel, which was established as the first
Serbian mobile phone company in 1994.

The fight is looming between a recently established company, Mobi
63, owned by the Serbian Government and a group of Austrian
businessmen, and third parties claiming to have interests in Mobtel's
assets.

Mobtel was set up by the State owned company PTT and a company
owned by a Serbian businessman and politician, Bogoljub Karic, and
had its telecom licence cancelled and significant assets transferred
to Mobi 63 by agencies of the Serbian Government. These actions have
occurred along with the closure of the country's popular TV station
BK TV (formerly owned by Karic). Karic is claiming that all this has
come about since he came third in the 2004 Presidential elections,
gaining 18.4 per cent of the vote. At the end of 2005 his poll rating
had risen to 20 per cent. Since that time, Karic alleges that the
government has set out to destroy him and his businesses for purely
political reasons.

The loss of Mobtel's licence and the transfer of its assets at the
government's instigation has led to the initiation of a battle.
Recently the government published a pre-tender offer for the sale of
Mobi 63, which is expected to be vigorously challenged in the courts
by third parties who still claim to have interests in Mobtel's
assets.

Last month, in a prominent advertisement in the Financial Times,
Yucyco Limited, Mobtel's former co-owners , hit back pointing out
that any bidders for Mobi 63 should be aware that the transfer of
Mobtel's assets to Mobi 63 in Serbia may be challenged and/or
invalidated. The advertisement highlighted other sustained attacks
against the Karic family, including the Serbian Government's twelve
unsuccessful attempts to liquidate Karic's Astra Bank which the
courts in Serbia overruled and the recent forced closure of BK TV by
the Serbian police, which caused outrage from journalists and
broadcasters.

ots Originaltext: Yucyco Limited
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