Telekom Serbia told the Raskrinkavanje portal that it was waiting for approval from all the relevant regulatory bodies in the region before deciding if it will buy all or part of the shares in Mondo INC.
According to the portal, the North Macedonia Commission for the Protection of Competition gave its approval first, bringing the Serbian state-owned telecommunications operator a step closer to buying the company owned by Igor Zezelj who is alleged to have had dubious dealings with Telekom. Zezelj’s Mondo INC also publishes the pro-regime tabloid Kurir.
Just days later in September, the North Macedonian Commission also gave Telekom Serbia approval to buy the Team Net KDS cable operator in the northern Serbia’s Vojvodina province.
Telekom Serbia told Raskrikavanje that it had informed the North Macedonian commission about its intentions (the purchase of Mondo INC), but refused to specify if and when the purchase will take place. „Our final decision will be taken if we receive the necessary permits from the relevant regulators in all the countries of the region,“ Telekom said in a written reply to Raskrikanvanje. It also refused to specify the possible amount to be paid for the purchase.
Earlier, Telekom CEO Vladimir Lucic said in a phone call with the portal that any questions should be emailed to him saying only that „getting permission from regulators is one thing going ahead with a decision is another“.
Raskrikavanje recalled that the N1 portal reported late in July that Telekom informed the North Macdedonian commission that it intends to buy Mondo INC. The commission was informed because the company operates in North Macedonia. The portal said that Telekom has the same obligation in other countries of the region but added that only the North Macedonian commission posted its decision online.
What the North Macedonia regulator said
The Macedonian Commission for the Protection of Competition said that if Telekom Serbia buys Mondo INC the acquisition will not significantly prevent, limit or harm competition on the market or a significant part of it. It added that Telekom Serbia has to an administrative fee of just under 700 Euro for the concentration report.
Telekom Serbia owns the MTEL DOOEL Skopje wired telecommunications company in North Macedonia which provides a public radio communication network, broadband Internet access, inter-operator services, telephone services in the public mobile communication network, broadcast TV services
Telecom Eurobonds
Telekom Serbia said on September 23 that it would issue more bonds, Eurobonds this time, which means the company is falling deeper into debt.
The N1 portal reported earlier that Telekom accrued a debt of 23.5 billion Dinars or about 200 million Euro in one year alone by issuing so-called corporate bonds in September 2020. The interest rate on those bonds was three-month belibor plus 2.95 percentage points, which at the time of sale on the primary market was 3.97 percent. Today, after interest rates were raised, the 3M belibor was raised to 4.94 percent (the current value according to the NBS), which means that Telekom Serbia will have to 7.89 percent interest on the bonds. The bonds were sold to business banks in Serbia which then sold them to the National Bank of Serbia (NBS). “The bonds have a 5-year maturity at a coupon rate lower than 4 percent (3M BELIBOR+2.95 p.p., which is 3.97%),“ the NBS said at the time. The NBS said the bonds are denominated in Dinars and „do not carry any foreign exchange risk, which indicates that the company thought wisely and responsibly in terms of reducing market risks to the lowest possible level“.
A later NBS statement that 5 banks invested in Telekom bonds. „The total amount of purchased securities is closer to a third than, as incorrectly stated, half of the issue, and they were purchased at full market conditions, that is at a rate that is almost identical to the coupon interest rate, the rate at which the listed securities were issued,“ the NBS said.
Another four banks sold a small part of the issue on the secondary market.
The Serbian State Aid Control Commission saiid that the banks sold the NBS 37.5 percent of the total Telekom bonds issued. It also ruled that the issuing of the bonds and purchase by the NBS is not state aid because the transaction was done under market conditions.
What Mondo INC owns
Mondo INC is part of Igor Zezelj’s Wireless Media Group and it has undergone ownership changes several times as reported by N1.
The latest re-packaging came when Mondo Adriatic (a sister company to Mondo INC) was set up on September 5. It has been registered in Serbia to provide the rights and distribute Mondo INC audio-visual products. According to the Business Registers Agency, the new company’s activities are „management of an economic entity“. It is based next door to Mondo INC’s headquarters in central Belgrade’s Vlajkoviceva street and both are solely owned by Zezelj’s Wireless Media Group.
Mondo INC now owns two companies outright: Firefly Production (registered for audio-visual and TV production ) and Mondo Trgovina. It is registered as the publisher of Kurir tabloid daily and TV Kurir’s owner.
Some Wireless Media companies were merged into Mondo INC before being shut down.
Telecom, Wireless Media contract
Wireless Media was the outright owner of Mondo until October 2018 when it signed a contract with Telekom Serbia which invested 37.9 million Euro into the development and creation of Mondo integrated digital media. Under that contract, Telekom Serbia was given the right to buy Mondo INC after 5 years.
Amended media laws were introduced in October 2023 allowing the state-owner telecommunications operator to own media outlets. That law was introduced just 10 days after the 5 year deadline expired.
Mondo INC was moved from Wireless Media to the Wireless Media Group and the original parent company Wireless Media changed its name and is no longer part of Zezelj’s group (under the same registration number, that company it is now called Smart Ventures d.o.o. and is owned by a person not connected directly to WMG).
Source: N1
